Do you remember the lawsuit lodged against RWE?
👨🌾 A farmer from Peru, Mr. Luciano Lliuya, had lodged a lawsuit against RWE in Germany, claiming that his village, Huarez, faced an existential risk of inundation from melting glaciers.
What does Germany’s largest energy utility have to do with a village in Peru I hear you ask? 🤔
📈 The argument was that since RWE had contributed 0.5 % of the global emissions driving climate change, RWE should pay 0.5 % of the costs to contain Lake Palcacocha, a glacial lake near Huaraz, to avoid the flooding (approx. $19,000)
I remember being very intrigued by where this would all go when the court agreed to send a delegation from Germany to Peru to visit Lake Palcacocha in 2022.
Then we didn’t hear that much so I wasn’t sure. And now we know!
This week, the Hamm Higher Regional Court ruled on the case. ⚖️
Specifically, the court found that the probability of flood risk to Mr. Luciano Lliuya’s property was very small (just 1 percent over the next 30 years) and therefore did not warrant looking into any link between the company’s emissions and the flood risk.
However, bigger picture, the ruling is huge: the court found that German civil law can be used to hold companies accountable for the worldwide effects of their emissions.
In the words of the lawyer for the plaintiff, Roda Verheyen: “For the first time in history, a higher court in Europe has ruled that large emitters can be held responsible for the consequences of their greenhouse gas emissions,.. [The ruling] will give a tailwind to climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, and thus to the move away from fossil fuels worldwide.”
So we now have a legal foundation for corporate climate liability from a higher court in the EU.🏛️
📍And don’t forget that this comes hot of the heels of a recent groundbreaking scientific study in Nature which shows, for the first time ever, how emissions from specific fossil fuel companies are connected to extreme heat events and associated economic losses.
📈 For instance, the study found that emissions linked to Chevron very likely caused between US $791 billion and $3.6 trillion in heat-related losses over the period 1991–2020, disproportionately harming the tropical regions - those who have contributed the least to climate change.
🌱:•.🧪The framework the scientists presented can specifically be used to inform litigation by assessing whose emissions are responsible, and for which harms.
And add to this the recent update on Climate TRACE. I was in the front row in Glasgow when Al Gore present Climate TRACE, and now since March, for the first time ever, we have precise data on emissions from direct, verified observation. We can now use satellites, sensors, and artificial intelligence to actually see GHG emissions in real time, rather than rely on self-reporting.
📍So we now know who is polluting, how much, and where. Which can in turn be connected to impacts - on people and planet.
Expect things to become a lot hotter. Not just in the air, but also in Board rooms, law firms and court rooms.
Have a good weekend everyone,
Anna ⭐
PS: Straight after London Climate Week, we have the The Future of Responsible Business conference - it’s on 30 June in Amsterdam, and Members of the European Parliament are particularly interested in hearing from you - yes you - practitioners on human rights due diligence. You can sign up here
