Page - 476 - in Loss and Damage from Climate Change - Concepts, Methods and Policy Options

476 W.Franket al. thecasemayact asamodel for lawsuits inother countries.Comparable legalbases for similar cases exist in numerous countries around theworld. The decision thus may have implications for the responsibility of great emitters all around the globe in termsofcommunicating the relevant litigation risks to shareholders andbuilding adequatefinancial reserves. Keywords Litigation ·Civil law ·Glacial lakeoutburstflooding ·Causation Peru ·Huaraz 20.1 TheCaseofHuarazandItsCivilLawDimension Loss andDamage caused by climate change has a civil law dimension (see book chapter by Simlinger andMayer 2018). The case of Saúl LucianoLliuya brought forwardin2016against theGermanenergyutilityRWEisthefirstclimatelawsuit in Germany that addresses thequestion ifgreenhousegasemitters, suchasbigenergy suppliers,maybeheld liableproportionallyforsafetymeasuresnecessary toprotect othersagainst thedangerstolifeandpropertycausedbytheconsequencesofclimate change, suchas through theaccelerated retreatofglaciersand risingwater levelsof glacial lagoons. Theplaintiff,SaúlLucianoLliuya,wholivesintheAndeancityofHuarazinPeru, ownsahousejustbelowPalcacochaGlacierLake(seeFig.20.1).Globalwarminghas led todangerous increases in the lake’svolume.Atany time,aglacial iceavalanche may cause a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) from the lake (Rivas et al. 2015). SaúlLucianoLliuya’s familyandhousealongwith largepartsof thecityofHuaraz areatriskofbeinghitbysuchawave.ThereareprecedentsofGLOFscausingdeath anddestructionintheregion:since1941suchdisastershavekilledmorethan30,000 people in theCordilleraBlanca region (Carey2005).Toensureprotection fromthe hazard,water levelsof theglacier lakeneedtobereducedbyupgradingthepumping systemandstrengthening thecurrentprotectivemorainedam(seeFig.20.2). The intent of Saúl Luciano Lliuya’s climate lawsuit, brought forward in 2016 against theGerman energy companyRWE, is to get the company tomake a con- tribution to safetymeasures at the lake inorder to reduce the riskofflooding.This contribution is to be commensurate to the causal contribution of the company’s shareinhistoricalCO2emissions,approximately0.5%(Heede2014).Asanaffected landowner,SaúlLucianoLliuyabaseshisclaimagainstRWEon§1004of theGer- manCivilCode (BGB2002),which readsas follows: If theownership is interferedwithbymeansother than removalor retentionofpossession, theownermay require thedisturber to remove the interference. If further interferences are tobe feared, theownermayseekaprohibitory injunction.