The Higher Regional Court of Hamm has dismissed the appeal brought by Peruvian farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya against RWE AG, marking a significant setback for efforts to establish corporate liability for global climate change under German civil law.
Mr. Luciano Lliuya had sought to hold RWE partially responsible for the risk of flooding from a glacial lake near his hometown in the Andes, which he claimed was exacerbated by climate change driven by the company’s historic carbon emissions. However, after a detailed review of expert evidence, the court concluded that the plaintiff failed to demonstrate a serious and immediate threat to his property. The probability of such a flood event occurring within the next 30 years was assessed at just 1 percent.
Given the lack of immediate risk, the court found no reason to examine whether a legal causal connection exists between RWE’s emissions and the alleged threat. As a result, the attempt to set a legal precedent for climate liability claims against individual corporations in Germany has failed.
RWE welcomed the ruling, reiterating its long-standing position that civil climate lawsuits targeting specific companies are inadmissible under German law. The company argued that allowing such claims could expose all German businesses to unlimited global liability, despite operating within existing environmental regulations.
This ruling aligns with decisions in similar cases brought against other major companies—including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW—which were also dismissed on the grounds that no injunctive relief could be granted when companies comply with public law.
RWE emphasized the contradiction of being held civilly liable for emissions that are legally permitted and, in some cases, even mandated by law. The company reaffirmed that it operates within all applicable regulations governing emissions.
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