Saul Luciano Lliuya accuses German energy giant RWE of contributing to the climate change that has caused glacial melting in the Andes, threatening his home and livelihood. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ
ESSEN, Germany (AFP) – by Richard HEISTER
A German court began hearing Thursday a complaint by a Peruvian farmer who accuses energy giant RWE of contributing to climate change that has caused glacial melting in the Andes, threatening his home and livelihood.
Saul Luciano Lliuya argues that RWE, as a major historic emitter of greenhouse gases, should share in the cost of protecting his hometown Huaraz from a nearby glacial lake that is at risk of overflowing from melting snow and ice.
“We hope that the court will rule in our favour, so as to save our world, our Earth, in some way,” said Luciano, who had travelled to the western German city of Essen to attend the hearing.
Luciano, who is also a mountain guide, is being advised by pressure group Germanwatch which said the case was the first of its kind in Europe and could set a legal precedent.
But Germany’s second-largest energy producer said the case was “unfounded”, telling the court it “could not be made liable for general and global developments such as climate change”.
“There is no legal basis for the applicant’s request,” RWE spokesman Guido Steffen told AFP.
Observers had expected the court to reject the David versus Goliath case as early as Thursday, but the judge has instead set a new hearing date for December 15.
It is unclear if a ruling would be expected at that date, or if the judge would seek “proof of evidence”, meaning the court would plunge into the question of climate change and its causes in proceedings that could last months.
Peruvian farmer and mountain guide Saul Luciano Lliuya accuses German energy giant RWE of contributing to the climate change that has caused glacial melting in the Andes, threatening his home and livelihood. / AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ
‘Partly responsible’
Luciano’s German lawyer, Roda Verheyen, claimed that RWE is the “top single-greatest CO2-emitter in Europe”.
Pointing to a 2013 climate study, she said the company was responsible for 0.5 percent of the total emissions “since the beginning of industrialisation” — making it at least partly responsible for the Peruvian farmer’s plight.
“We’re not saying that RWE is responsible for climate change as a whole, but we’re saying that RWE is a major contributor and should therefore be obliged to pay 17,000 euros ($18,000) — a pro-rata sum towards the costs of eliminating the risk of flooding,” Verheyen said Thursday.
Besides seeking the sum to help pay for flood defences, Luciano is also asking RWE to reimburse him for 6,300 euros he himself has spent on protective measures, according to a summary of the case.
“The big contributors to climate change, such as RWE, must finally take responsibility for the consequences of their emissions,” Luciano was quoted as saying in a statement on the Germanwatch website.
“We in Peru have hardly contributed to climate change but have to live with the worst consequences,” said the father of two.
RWE has countered that the plantiff has failed to demonstrate a clear link between CO2 emissions and the alleged flood danger, and that the act of emitting greenhouse gases was not against the law.
Steffen, the RWE spokesman, said the firm did not understand why it had been singled out for legal action.
“We are making a huge contribution to the modernisation of coal-fired power plants in Germany” to make them more efficient and reduce the output of CO2, he told AFP.
At the same time RWE was “investing billions in renewable energy”, he said, as part of Germany’s switch from fossil fuels to clean energy such as wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power.