''Lliuya v RWE AG'' (2015) Case No. 2 O 285/15 (Essen Oberlandesgericht) was a German

tort A tort is a civil wrong, other than breach of contract, that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with cri ...

law and climate litigation case started by , concerning liability for

climate damage Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an overall warming trend, changes to precipitation patterns, and more extreme weather. As ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

from a melting glacier, against Germany's largest coal burning power company,

RWE RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. In July 2020, RWE completed a far-reaching asset swap deal with E.ON first ...

, which has caused approximately 0.47% of all historic greenhouse gas emissions. If successful, it would have establish legal precedent that companies contributing to climate change are liable for damages they cause. It was appealed in the Higher Regional Court in

Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia Hamm (, Latin: ''Hammona'') is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the Bunde ...

. On 28 May 2025, the court rejected Lucino's lawsuit.

Facts

, a Peruvian farmer from

Huaraz Huaraz () (from Quechua: ''Waraq'' or ''Warash'', "''dawn''"), formerly designated as San Sebastián de Huaraz, is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Ancash Region (State of Ancash) and the seat of government of Huaraz Province. The urb ...

, population 120,000, claimed against

, Germany's largest electric company, that it knowingly contributed to climate damage by emitting

greenhouse gases Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...

, and was partly responsible for melting mountain glaciers near his town. This caused

Palcacocha Palcacocha (possibly from Quechua ''pallqa, p'allqa, p'alqa'' forked, branched, fork, ''qucha'' lake) is a glacier lake in the Andes mountain range of South America in northwestern Peru located in the Ancash Region, Huaraz Province. Location Pa ...

, a nearby glacial lake, to increase in size since 1975, creating a major flood risk to the town. If a large avalanche were to fall into the lake, the resulting wave would reach 70 feet over the top of the

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

, and the flood of nearly 2 million cubic meters of water would reach Huaraz within an hour. The emissions were a nuisance under the

German Civil Code German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, BGB §1004, and RWE is requested should reimburse a portion of costs incurred to establish flood protection, namely 0.47% of total cost, given RWE's annual contribution to GHG emissions. Specifically, as the flood protection project would cost 4 million USD, RWE is requested to pay $20,000.

Judgment

State Court

The Essen Landesgericht dismissed Lliuya's claim for an injunction and damages. It stated that it could not provide effective redress, because Lliuya's situation would be the same even if RWE stopped emitting and there was no 'linear causal chain' within the complex causal relationship between particular emissions and climate change impacts. RWE was not a 'disturber by conduct' under BGB §1004, and given the number of contributors to climate change, attributing individual damage to specific actors was impossible.

Upper State Court

The Oberlandesgericht Hamm, on 30 November 2017, said the claim was admissible. It would go to evidential phase on whether Lliuya's home is (a) threatened by floods or mudslides (b) how RWE contributed. It will review expert opinion on RWE emissions, contribution and impact on the glacier. On 17 March 2025 the case resumed at the Higher Regional Court in

. The hearings determined what evidence will be permissible in the final trial, which will rule on whether RWE – which has never operated in Peru – can be held liable for damages. RWE continues to deny legal responsibility, arguing that climate change is a global issue caused by many contributors. On 28 May 2025, the court rejected Lucino's lawsuit.

Significance

This was the first case to potentially hold fossil fuel corporations directly responsible in tort for the damage they knowingly cause through releasing greenhouse gases and making profit. If ''Lliuya'' was successful in German law, the principle would apply to all other companies responsible for releasing greenhouse gas emissions and the damage they cause, and could be applied in similar ways in all countries' tort laws.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Lliuya v RWE AG on the Sabin Center database
*D Collyns
Climate change has turned Peru's glacial lake into a deadly flood timebomb
(2018) Guardian Climate change litigation German case law