Page - 475 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

Chapter20 TheCaseofHuaraz:FirstClimate LawsuitonLossandDamageAgainst anEnergyCompanyBeforeGerman Courts WillFrank,ChristophBalsandJuliaGrimm Abstract Thecivil lawcasebrought forwardin2016bythePeruvianSaúlLuciano Lliuyawith thesupportof theNGOGermanwatchagainst theGermanenergycom- panyRWEis thefirstclimate lawsuit inGermany. It addresses thequestionwhether andhowthebiggestgreenhouse-gasemitters, suchasenergysuppliers,maybeheld liable for losses and damages caused by climate change. Specifically, the plaintiff sued thecompany for acontribution to safetymeasures that helpavoid theoutburst ofaglacial lagoonfuelledbyglacial retreat linkedtoanthropogenicclimatechange. Therequestedsupport fornecessaryriskmanagementmeasuresat thelaketoreduce theriskoffloodingarecommensuratewith thecausalcontributionof thecompany’s share inhistoricalCO2 emissions, approximately0.5%.After havingbeen rejected by a district court inNovember 2017, theCourt ofAppeals accepted the case and took it forward to the evidentiary phase. This decisionmarks 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 largeenergycompanies,andotheremittersofgreenhousegasemissions, forclimate change in termsof liability fornuisancecaused toprivateproperty.Theacceptance of the case and its entering into the evidentiary phase haswritten legal history and W.Frank ·C.Bals · J.Grimm(B) Germanwatche.V.,Bonn,Germany e-mail: grimm@germanwatch.org ©TheAuthor(s)2019 R.Mechler et al. (eds.),LossandDamage fromClimateChange,ClimateRisk Management,PolicyandGovernance,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72026-5_20 475