The Case of Huaraz: First Climate Lawsuit on Loss and Damage Against an Energy Company Before German Courts

The civil law case brought forward in 2016 by the Peruvian Saul Luciano Lliuya with the support of the NGO Germanwatch against the German energy company RWE is the first climate lawsuit in Germany. It addresses the question whether and how the biggest greenhouse-gas emitters, such as energy suppliers, may be held liable for losses and damages caused by climate change. Specifically, the plaintiff sued the company for a contribution to safety measures that help avoid the outburst of a glacial lagoon fuelled by glacial retreat linked to anthropogenic climate change. The requested support for necessary risk management measures at the lake to reduce the risk of flooding are commensurate with the causal contribution of the company’s share in historical CO2 emissions, approximately 0.5%. After having been rejected by a district court in November 2017, the Court of Appeals accepted the case and took it forward to the evidentiary phase. This decision marks the first time that a court acknowledged that a private company is in principal responsible for its share in causing climate damages. The lawsuit has raised the issue of responsibility of large energy companies, and other emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, for climate change in terms of liability for nuisance caused to private property. The acceptance of the case and its entering into the evidentiary phase has written legal history and the case may act as a model for lawsuits in other countries. Comparable legal bases for similar cases exist in numerous countries around the world. The decision thus may have implications for the responsibility of great emitters all around the globe in terms of communicating the relevant litigation risks to shareholders and building adequate financial reserves.