Peru: One farmer’s battle against German energy giant RWE | DW Documentary

Peru: One farmer’s battle against German energy giant RWE | DW Documentary

Y I’ve been coming up to the mountains since I was 8 or 10 years old I used to take care of the cows up here with my sisters this Gorge looked very different Back Then There Were mes waterfalls and a lot more life in general Saul Luciano luya is a ketua farmer and

Mountain guide in the cordier Blanca mountains in Peru here we are this is Lake Pala COA 4550 m above sea level we Keta believe that we’re an integral part of nature up here is where I dream and I can feel that the mountain is trying to tell me something maybe it’s Spirits or

Energies I don’t know but you can feel that something is here Al Lake palota the ketua say the lake is filled with tears from the two glaciers from the water that melts from them palaro on the left pukar ranra on the right authorities say there’s a major threat an avalanche could be triggered

In the upper part of the glacier if a large block of ice were to break off and fall into the lake it would result in a kind of suami an avalanche as you can see it’s getting worse every year the glacier Retreats further disappearing before our very

Eyes but our community here is not to blame it’s painful something has to be done that’s why I’ve decided to hold those who are actually responsible for the melting of the glaciers to account it All Began about 9 years ago on the banks of this lake German climate

Experts came to assess the damage and Saul had guided them one man in particular would change Saul’s life kristofh B policy director of the German environmental organization German watch together they began setting their sights on one of the big International emitters of greenhouse gases 11,000 km away from pacacha in

Western Germany is a huge surface mine called gsva 2 it covers more than 40 square kilm and is 400 m deep lignite is mind here the most polluting form of coal there is it’s burned in power plants to generate electricity RW is among the largest producers of CO2 emissions in

Europe do here this is immense this vast pit where lignite is being mined is operated by energy Giant rwe and it’s the basis for the great amount of emissions that rwe releases and just a single company like rwe has produced more emissions than the entire country of

Peru and yet Peru is now much more severely affected by the climate crisis than Germany for example and that’s why Saul has chosen precisely this company as Europe’s biggest emitter to take responsibility and that’s what Saul is fighting for in court Saul was not yet familiar with the gods

Via 2 mine when he and Kristoff came up with the idea of suing rwe in Germany with funding from German watch back in Peru We join Mayday celebrations in waras this andian city is where Saul grew up it lies 25 km as the crow flies from Pala Kota waras has experienced several

Natural disasters including a massive earthquake in 1970 which killed more than 20,000 people in the city but few are aware of the threat looming right now up in the mountains one exception Is Peruvian glaciologist Cesar Porto corero who understands the dangers all too well you can see all

Ofas he lives in huas to monitor the GLA this is the best vantage point to observe a large part of the cordier Blanca mountains due to global warming the glaciers of the cordier have already shrunk by 45 to 50% Lake Pala lies the end of that Gorge

There if a major Avalanche were to cause it to burst its defenses a wave could form that’s 20 to 30 m High it would easily overcome any natural obstacles it would flow Down The Gorge and form a huge River reaching the town in about half an

Hour on the way it would sweep up rocks Earth trees and by the time it reached the city it would be 8 to 10 m High would destroy everything in its path it would be a tragedy a true catastrophe and in fact it’s happened before back in 1941 According to some estimates 2,000

People were killed here rare photos from that time show how onethird of the City was destroyed onethird of the population was killed HZ was home to just a fraction of the 150,000 residents it has today this Boulder was washed right into the city testifying to the sheer power of the

River this one lies right in the center of huas and serves as a memorial to the victims of the disaster we’ve arranged to meet sa here the path to his family home hugs the kilai river which crosses the city from Lake pakota if the lake were to burst its

Banks it would flood this area it’s known to be a danger zone in theory no one is allowed to build closer than 50 m from the riverbank but when s’s parents like many other poor Farmers came here looking for work in the 1980s they built wherever they could like in W Florida

This area is especially at risk this is my house my parents gave it to me my son and my nephews live here let’s go up to the second floor this house is at the center of my legal case in Germany because we’re stating that this property is in

Danger if a W swept through here it would endanger my house my son my nephews and also my neighbors 50,000 people would be affected because they live in the flood’s path many innocent people would die people who are not responsible for climate changea sa’s argument in court which incidentally the court has

Accepted is that climate change has forged a Global Neighborhood because the emissions that are released here affect the atmosphere just as much as as they do in Peru or elsewhere in the world that then raises the temperatures and ramps up the risks and that’s why he’s suing

Rwe in the context of This Global Neighborhood it would be like throwing mud over your neighbor’s fence and destroying their house in the process in the same way peruvians in the Andes are facing existential pressure their living conditions are under threat so he’s seeking to obtain a certain amount of protection from

Rwe in the northern German city of Hamburg lie the headquarters of the attorney representing Saul German watch chose a big name to fight the case Ruda Fen she’s already won a number of high-profile climate Justice cases including against the German government this time she’s defending David against

Goliath I have a photo of Saul here I haven’t seen him for a year we were there last May there he is at the glacia lake under my glacia pictures Ruda fayen is spurred on knowing she is fighting for the future of children and generations to come even though rwe has no operations

In Peru German law can still be applied that’s is in Germany it’s anchored in paragraph 104 it says that if someone’s behavior is disturbing me my legal position or my property then that disruption has to stop in this case the disruption is rwe historical emissions which are ongoing and stopping

That disruption in this case would be the prevention of the glacia lake bursting its banks because that’s the problem and in this case they don’t have to be direct neighbors it’s sufficient that the disruption is affecting sa’s property in some way even indirectly a pivotal moment came in

2017 when Saul traveled to the Cor house in the German city of H the media were waiting the court was to decide whether Saul’s case was admissible fayen was at his side when the ruling came back that yes the case is admissible it was their first

Victory we still have a long way to go but this is the first step there’s still a lot to do before we achieve the final Victory The Next Step followed in 2022 in Peru legal and climate experts arrived to collect evidence supported by Roda vayan people who are affected by climate

Change should not stand without rights and that’s what I’m concerned with that many people think that they stand without rights and as a as a lawyer I want to say no you’re not without rights the group of German experts made their way to Lake palucha some were there on behalf of the

Court or rwe others from s’s defense team their job was to assess the extent to which the city of haras is actually at risk all okay water level okay this isn’t working I’m cheing Edwin cordiva is an environmental engineer and works for the regional government this one is closed the water

Is Flowing there depending on the water level the siphons can be opened or closed the system also includes a 7 m Dyke it was all set up in the 1970s it’s designed to prevent the lake from overflowing the regional government has installed a system to drain the lake using these 10 pipes

This is to prevent the Dyke from giving way if the water level gets too high water can be siphoned off if necessary the aim is to maintain a certain level and divert any overflow down the valley on the other side the question is how can we adapt that’s what we all want to

Know we’ve installed an early warning system that’s equipped with sensors in the case of an emergency this antenna would receive a signal from Lake palaka back in huas desaster management officials are constantly monitoring the lake this is our SAT early warning system here you can see a real time video of

The glacial lake palaka so we can keep an eye on it here we record toric currents and here we monitor the water level let me introduce you to our team they’re on duty Around the Clock senorita Al is on today she monitors the lake and intervenes in

Emergencies the aim is to detect whether the lake is in danger of overflowing if so we use this device to trigger Sirens to warn everyone there are 10 Sirens at strategic locations in critical areas this activates a rapid response to limit damages while Alvarado keeps watch Life in huas continues the everpresent threat

Is easily forgotten but one man is always thinking about it glaciologist Cesar Porto Carrero he thinks the existing Dyke won’t hold up for much longer in this plan of the glacial Lake we can see the current siphons in black but they are not enough as they

Can only lower the water level by about 2 m our project envisions constructing a canal to lower the water level by 20 M and installing a 25 M Dyke the current dke is Tiny it’s just 7 m for the p it needs to be at least 25 M high that is the

Solution should disaster strike the estimated damages would be €170 million EUR the construction project would cost around 20 million but it was never implemented there is a vulnerability Factor here that plays a major role and that’s poverty you can’t just expect people to move somewhere else so you have to reduce the threat

Instead that should be done for at least 35 glacial lakes in the cier Blan sa wants rwe to contribute to the cost studies show the company has produced about 0.5% of global CO2 emissions since the Industrial Age sa wants rwe to pay 0.5% of the cost of

Making Lake po kacha safe with rwe’s annual net income of €3.3 billion that itself shouldn’t be a problem taking it face value that means that the case is worth about €20,000 that’s the cost we’re looking at that could increase but that much is definite but in reality the case has far

Greater significance which rwe is of course well aware of because if a German court establishes that a firm can be culpable for climate change in this form that would pave the way for many affected parties to bring further claims maybe in other countries too it would set a

Precedent rwe was not willing to speak to us on camera but sent us this statement by email we have always been operating our plants in compliance with governmental permits these permits include our CO2 emissions according to law individual emitters are not liable for universally rooted and globally effective processes like climate

Change rwe stance would mean that because many are responsible no one is responsible and that’s just wrong from a legal standpoint we visit Saul in the small village of Lupa about 20 minutes outside the city this is my plot of land I grow corn potatoes and wheat

We also breed cows sheep and guinea pigs that’s what my family and I live from got Saul’s wife Lydia prepares dinner with a produce from their small farm sa’s legal action upended their family life Lydia was very unhappy when it all started people said all sorts of things

They said sa wanted to sell the lake to build houses with the money I was Furious I shouted at him and asked him why he was doing all this but now I don’t care I’ve toughened up because I know that everything he’s doing is exactly right little by little I’ve come to understand

It at first the cameras and all that made me uncomfortable and he was always away but later I felt proud of him Saul is not alone in his fight back in Germany young climate activists put the gsva mind at the center of their battle against fossil fuels Swedish activist Greta tunberg also joined

Demonstrations against rwe’s Plans to expand the mine Germany plans to phase out coal by 2030 but says it could be pushed back to 2033 if needed but scientists say another decade of coal will nullify the goal set by the Paris agreement to limit Global warm Waring to 2° above pre-industrial

Levels if sa wins against this energy giant that would send a very important signal that the days of rwe’s business model are coming to an end and soon and that signal would go out not just to rwe but to all major emitters that extract coal natural gas or oil from the

Ground and sell it for fuel and if we want to survive together on this planet it’s a model that we need to end as soon as possible for these anti-al activists fighting against rwe Saul is a hero I’d like to tell that I’m very grateful I’m moved by his commitment to

The cause and I really hope he wins with his case he can prove that we are all globally connected the environment belongs to all of us is the basis of all our lives and so I’d like to say thank you Saul for your commitment thank you for your strength and your courage your

Fight inspires us to continue here on the ground so that together we can dismantle this fossil fuel system the slagen 7 years since the case got underway and all the while the ice continues to melt yes I’ve made a little bit of difference like a grain of sand in the

Gears or at least I’ve tried to but it’s not enough the case of Saul versus rwe is still ongoing the German Court could reach a ruling in 2024

Saúl Luciano Lliuya, a farmer from Peru, is suing German energy giant RWE. He says the company’s greenhouse gas emissions are endangering his home. It’s a David and Goliath battle that could set a precedent in holding major polluters accountable.

When Saúl Luciano Lliuya learned that RWE’s coal mining operations had apparently produced more CO2 emissions than the entire country of Peru, he became convinced that a lawsuit could be successful. Many communities in the Andes are witnessing the effects of climate change on a daily basis. Peru is now one of the countries most affected by global warming. A glacial lake above Luciano Lliuya’s home city has swollen significantly due to glacier meltwater resulting from climate change. Experts say a sudden major avalanche could cause the lake to burst through existing flood defenses, with deadly consequences for the city below. Up to 50,000 people would be affected. The family homes of Luciano Lliuya and his neighbors are also in the danger zone.
In 2015, Saúl Luciano Lliuya sued RWE in a German court. The “Saúl vs. RWE” case could have a ripple effect for the fossil fuel industry. After all, the case of Luciano Lliuya is not an isolated one: There are similar stories worldwide in poorer countries that have done little to contribute to the climate crisis yet feel its effects most profoundly. If Luciano Lliuya wins, the ruling could pave the way for many more lawsuits to come.

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