The case of the Peruvian farmer against the German RWE energy giant could remodel the global climatic responsibility

Bogota, Colombia – as a crucial climatic process are going to the trial in Germany next week, experts say that the case brought by Peruvian farmer Saul Lliuya against the German energy giant RWE could establish a significant precedent to make the major responsible for climate change.

“This is one of the first cases of this kind, a case brought by someone directly affected by the climatic changes against a major greenhouse gases-which has done it to the test,” said Noah Walker-Crawford, a research colleague at the London School of Economics and adviser to the German Watt.

Lliuya’s trial against RWE claims that the historical greenhouse gas emissions of the company have fueled global warming, accelerating the glacial melting over its hometown of Huaraz, Peru. As a result, Lake Palcacocha swollen to dangerous levels, threatening the community with the risk of catastrophic floods.

RWE, which has never worked in Peru, denies legal responsibility, claiming that climate change is a global problem caused by many contributors.

Concern for melting glaciers

“It is very sad and painful to see the glaciers melting,” said Lliuya, 45 years old, Associated Press in a video call from Germany. “There are a lot of concerns from the people of my community about the future, about the water problem, because all the rivers that descend from the mountains are used for agriculture.”

Walker-Crawford said of all these cases around the world, this is the one who was the farthest.

“It has already established a partial precedent by the fact that the courts have considered it admissible in 2017, which means that the judges said that the case is solid in legal terms,” ​​he said. “Now, the court to hear evidence and we will see if the company’s responsibility can be proved in this specific case.”

Sebastien Duyck, a main lawyer at the Center for International Environment, says that the reason is so significant is not the decision itself or the value of the damages requested, but the precedent that it has established.

“If we could use the cake law to say that any fossil fuel corporation that has contributed significantly to climate change can be held liable for climate costs in proportion to their emissions, it could open the door for many similar cases worldwide,” he said.

The case could be a “game exchanger”

The case could be “a game exchanger”, according to Murray Worthy, from Zero Carbon Analytics, a research group on climate change.

“This case is absolutely crucial,” said Worthy. “Although this is just a case focused on this place in Peru, the wider implications are huge. The costs and damages in the climate change could be found at tens of billions a year, and if the fossil fuel companies could be responsible for them and they have to pay these costs, they would completely change the finances and the prospects for the Fosil.”

RWE is one of the largest energy companies in Germany, historically recognized as a major electricity producer in fossil fuels.

RWE says that the process is legally inadmissible and establishes a dangerous precedent by the responsibility of individual transmitters for global climatic changes.

“In our opinion, there is no legal basis to manage individual issuers for global phenomena, such as climatic changes. Due to the large number of global greenhouse gas emissions from both natural and human sources, as well as the complexity of the climate, it is not possible, in our opinion, to legally attribute the specific effects of climate change to a single issuer, ”the company said in response to the questions asked by the AP.

The company insists that climatic solutions should be addressed by state and international policies, not by the courts.

Walker-Crawford said the court is in the evidence collection phase, examining if Lliuya’s house actually faces a significant risk of floods.

“If the court decides that the risk is high enough, it will evaluate whether RWE emissions can be scientifically linked to this risk,” he said.

Regardless of the final result of the case, Walker-Crawford said that it is likely to consolidate the legal foundation for future processes.

“Even if the specific risk in this case is not considered high enough, the precedent that companies can be made responsible for their climatic impact would continue to be,” he said.

The result of the case could also have financial repercussions.

Climatic disputes could affect financial markets

“We are already beginning to see the impact of climatic disputes on financial markets,” said Walker-Crawford. “Research has shown that when climatic cases against corporations go beyond major obstacles, it negatively affects the stock value of companies that are sent to court. Investors begin to take a note of significant financial responsibility that climatic disputes can present. “

Lliuya, who also works as a mountain guide for tourists, said she started the process with little hope. Ten years further, that hope has grown.

“When the German judges visited my house and the lake in 2022, it gave me hope – I hope our voices were heard and that justice could be possible,” he said. “Whatever the result, I went through a long way and I feel good about it,” he said.

The hearing will start on Monday.

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Franklin Briceno from Lima, Peru, contributed to this report.