The Climate Case: Saúl versus RWE

The Climate Case: Saúl vs. RWE

For the first time, a company responsible for climate change faces legal charges in Europe: Today, the Peruvian farmer and mountain guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya is filing a lawsuit against the German utility RWE at the Regional Court in Essen, Germany. The reason: The energy company’s immense emissions threaten his family, his property as well as a large part of his home city of Huaraz.

Note: This page is outdated and is no longer updated regularly. Please have a look at our new website on the RWE case. There you will find all relevant background information, legal justifications and ways to support Saúl and the case.

 To our new topic page "THE CLIMATE CASE"

 

The "RWE Case" at a glance

The "RWE Case" at a glance:

2022: After a long delay, the court hearing in the Andean city of Huaraz took place in May. Judges of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) of Hamm, legal advisors and experts travelled to Peru to check whether the plaintiff's house is actually threatened by a possible flood wave from the Palcacocha glacial lake above the city.

2020: Unfortunately, the taking of evidence in Huaraz will be further delayed due to the Corona-crisis and resulting travel restrictions.

2019: On the recommendation of the experts, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm has made a request to the State of Peru to be allowed to inspect the premises that are the subject of the lawsuit. The Court is at present awaiting response from the competent authorities, which can take quite some time to process.

September 2018: The experts selected by the Higher Regional Court of Hamm accept their appointment. They will provide an opinion on the question of wether or not there is a serious threat of impairment to the plaintiff‘s property. If this question is answered positively, there will be taking of evidence with regards to the defendant‘s part of responsibility for this impairment due to RWE‘s CO₂ emissions.

July 2018: Since plaintiff and defendant cannot agree on experts for the taking of evidence, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm announces that it will select them itself.

25.02.2018 and 14.03.2018: The Higher Regional Court of Hamm clearly rejects two statements of objection filed by RWE’s lawyers against the Court’s Order for the Hearing of Evidence and states once again: climate damages can give rise to corporate liability.

30.11.2017: The Higher Regional Court Hamm announces its decision to enter into the evidentiary stage thereby writing legal history.

13.11.2017: The appeal at the Higher District Court Hamm is scheduled as an oral hearing.

26.01.2017: Saúl Luciano Lliuya files an appeal before the Higher Regional Court Hamm against the negative ruling of the Regional Court Essen.

15.12.2016: The District Court Essen dismisses the civil lawsuit against RWE.

24.11.2016: The first oral hearing takes place amid great national and international interest – the decision was adjourned.

June 2016: In its statement of defence, RWE disputes its own responsibility for climate change induced damage in the Andes and denies that Huaraz even faces a risk of flooding.

24.11.2015: Saúl Luciano Lliuya files the lawsuit, which is classified by the District Court Essen as "a legal matter with fundamental significance".

News on the RWE Case

Publication
Climate Justice needs your support
Title page: Glaciers are melting, responsability grows.
The case of RWE points to the major responsibility of large energy companies
The Peruvian farmer and mountain guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya has filed a lawsuit against RWE.
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Press Release
Climate suit against German utility RWE: Higher District Court will hear appeal on 13 November
Pressemitteilung
Parallel to the political negotiations at the UN Climate Summit in Bonn, the legalities of climate change and its consequences will be on the agenda in Hamm. The Peruvian mountain guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya is taking his suit against RWE to the court of second instance.
The 5th Civil Chamber of the Higher District Court Hamm (Germany) has scheduled an oral hearing for the appeal of Peruvian mountain guide and small farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya for 13 November (Monday). The public hearing is set to take approximately two hours. The scheduled date lies in the middle of the two-week UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn (Germany, 6 – 17 Nov.), which will likely attract added international attention to the case. The attorney for the claimant, Dr. Roda Verheyen (Hamburg), is pleased by the Higher District Court’s decision. “I am confident that this initial hearing will now be followed by an evidentiary phase."
» Weiterlesen
Blogpost
Landslides and floods in Peru – Huaraz is spared of the worst
Blogpost
Blog post by Noah Walker-Crawford, March 2017
Due to heavy rainfall the risks in Huaraz increase, but no considerable damage has happened yet. Hundreds of thousands of people in Peru are hit by floods and landslides which are the result of unusually strong rainfall. Poorer populations in particular are confronted with the consequences of those rainfalls. Many people lost their homes and are now facing an unsecure future.
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Press Release
Climate Suit against RWE: Peruvian Mountain Guide Will Appeal
Pressemitteilung
Saúl Luciano Lliuya will file an appeal to the Higher Regional Court Hamm (Germany) against the decision made by the District Court Essen. The Peruvian, who lives in the high Andes, aims to make the german energy corporation RWE bear a share of the costs for protective measures against the impacts of climate change on his home.
Today the mountain guide and small-scale farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya from Peru filed an appeal against the decision made by the Regional Court Essen (Germany) in his lawsuit against RWE. Together with his attorney Dr. Roda Verheyen (Hamburg), he will continue his efforts before the Higher Regional Court Hamm to compel RWE, as the largest emitter of CO2 in Europe, to contribute to protective measures against the effects of climate change in the Peruvian Andes. These effects threaten major parts of his hometown, Huaraz. The court of first instance had dismissed the “climate suit” in mid-December.
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Press Release
Regional Court dismisses climate lawsuit against RWE – Claimant likely to appeal
Pressemitteilung
Today, the Regional Court Essen dismissed the civil suit of Peruvian mountain guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya against RWE. The legal process is likely to continue: Attorney Verheyen announced that her client will “most likely” present an appeal at the Higher Regional Court Hamm.
» Weiterlesen

Zitat: Kläger Saúl Luciano LLiuya

"I am happy to have become active and it overwhelms me how much interest and support I have received in my country and around the world. This gives me the courage and strength to move forward. Climate change affects all countries in the world. Therefore we have to stand up for justice."

- Saúl Luciano Lliuya, 21.03.2015

Donation "Saúl versus RWE - The Case of RWE"