The German court rejected the Peruvian Farmer’s climate case

A German court rejected a case brought by a Peruvian farmer against the German energy giant RWE in a long -awaited decision.

Saúl Luciano Lliuya claims that the company’s global emissions have contributed to the melting of glaciers in Peru – threatening his hometown of Huaz.

He was looking for 17,000 euros (14,250 British pounds) compensation – money he said he would use a flood defense project to protect the city.

However, the higher regional court in the German city of Ham on Wednesday blocks the case to continue further and exclude all complaints, ending Mr Lliuya’s 10-year legal battle.

RWE said he was not active in Peru and asked why he was separate.

He also indicated his plans to remove his coal power plans and to become neutral with carbon by 2040.

In their decision on Wednesday, judges believe that the risk of floods for the ownership of G -n Lliuya is not high enough for the case to continue.

However, in what climate change groups welcomed as a profit, they said that energy companies could be responsible for the costs caused by their carbon emissions.

Although the amount requested by G -n Lliuya was very low, the case has become a reason for climate change activists, who hope that it will set a precedent to hold powerful companies.

The 44-year-old mountain guide and farmer said he had led the case because he saw first-hand how increasing temperatures cause glaciers near Huaz to melt.

He said that as a result, Palkakocha Lake – which is located above the city – now has four times more water than in 2003 and that residents like it were at risk of flooding, especially if the ice blocks were detached from the Palkakoche glacier and falling into the lake, causing it to overflow.

He claims that emissions caused by RWE contribute to the rise in temperature in the Mountain Region of Peru and asked the German company to pay for the construction of defense from floods.

G -n Lliuya also said that he had chosen the company as in 2013 he traces the historic emissions from the main fossil fuel producers lists the German energy giant as one of the largest pollutants in Europe.

The original case of G -n Lliuya was rejected by the Lower Court in Germany in 2015, with the judges claiming that a company could not be responsible for the climate change.

But in a surprising twist, d -n Lliuya in 2017 won his complaint with judges in the Supreme Regional Court, who accepted that he had merit in his case and allowed him to continue.

Earlier, his lawyers claimed that RWE was responsible for 0.5% of CO2 global emissions and asked the energy company to pay damage in the amount of a proportional share of the cost of building a protection of $ 3.5 million for Huaraz.

Germanwatch, an environmental non -governmental organization that supported the case of G -n Lliuya, celebrates the court’s decision, saying it has “made a legal history.”

“Although the court has rejected the specific claim – finding the risk of flooding for the home of Luciano Lliya is not high enough – it confirmed for the first time that major emissions can be held accountable under the German civil right for risks arising from climate change,” the statement said.

The group said it hoped that the decision could positively affect such cases in other countries.