A Peruvian farmer is demanding that a German energy company pay him compensation for its role in causing historical climate change which, he claims, leaves his home “acutely threatened” by a glacial lake which could burst its banks.
In an unprecedented legal claim in Europe, Saul Luciano Lliuya demands that RWE pay part of the costs for urgent protective measures as his home lies in the floodpath of the Palcacocha lake which is damming glacial melt-water upstream of his home in the town of Huaraz, in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca, or white mountain range.
“Two glaciers could collapse into the lake, that would cause a big flood wave which would destroy the house of my family and many other houses in Huaraz. This is an unacceptable risk,” he told the Guardian.
“For a long time, my father and I have thought that those who cause climate change should help solve the problems it causes. Peru is a poor and vulnerable country. The big polluters who have contributed to climate change should now contribute to the solutions of our problems,” Lliuya said.
The claim alleges that RWE – one of Europe’s biggest historical emitters according to a 2013 report in the journal Climatic Change – contributed to the greenhouse effect and, in turn, glacial retreat in the Andes.
The Palcacocha lagoon has grown in size by eight times and in volume by 30 times in less than 40 years due to glacial melt, the claim details.
Local authorities in Huaraz say there is an acute risk of flooding and have repeatedly declared a state of emergency. In 1941, about 5,000 inhabitants were killed when an earthquake caused chunks of ice to collapse into the lake, which was much smaller than it is today. However, there is no early warning system in place, unlike in the nearby town of Carhuaz.
Roda Verheyen, a Hamburg-based environmental lawyer representing Lliuya, said her client plans to sue RWE through Germany’s civil courts in what would be an unprecedented legal proceeding in Europe.
“We have a solid case with respect to RWE’s contribution to greenhouse gases and how that leads to the risk in which Mr Lliuya’s home finds itself,” Verheyen told the Guardian.
“My client approached me with one question: ‘Do you think it is correct that polluters never own up to their responsibility?’ As a lawyer and as a human being, I have to say, it is not fair. Can we do something about it?” she said.
Lliuya is demanding that RWE pay him for its contribution to global total emissions from 1751 to 2010, which is calculated to be 0.47%, according to the 2013 report.
To avert the risk of flooding, the Palcacocha lake would need to be drained until further safety works could be put in place, such as building new dams and modernising existing ones.
In order to undertake these measures, Lliuya asks the company to contribute around €20,000 (£14,250), an amount equivalent to 0.47% of the projected total costs to drain or reinforce the lake and install a glacial flood outburst early warning system.
“The company has to pay its fair share of financing measures to protect those in danger,” said Christoph Bals, of German NGO, Germanwatch, which is supporting the claim. “Companies that create risks for others through their business activity have to shoulder their responsibility,” he said.
Michael Murphy, a spokesman for RWE Group said on Monday that the company could not comment as it had yet to receive the legal claim from Lliuya.
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