Hamm (AP) – German court ruled against Peruvian farmers in a landmark climate lawsuit Wednesday that he claimed global warming driven by the energy company RWE’s historical greenhouse gas emissions put his home at risk.
Farmers and mountaineering guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya said the glaciers above his hometown of Huaraz, Peru, are melting, increasing the risk of catastrophic flooding. RWE, which has never operated in Peru, denies legal liability, arguing that climate change is a global problem caused by many contributors.
The state court in Hamm, western Germany, dismissed the lawsuit on Wednesday. The case has been going on for ten years. Lliuya was unable to appeal the ruling further.
Experts say the case has the potential to set a major precedent in the fight to hold major polluters accountable for climate change.
RWE believes that the lawsuit is legally unacceptable and sets dangerous precedents for dangerous precedents by putting individual transmitters accountable for global climate change. It insists that climate solutions should be addressed through state and international policies rather than courts.
Judges and experts from Germany visited Peru in 2022.
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