LEGAL CHALLENGE: Peruvian farmer Luciano Lliuya, center, stands next to lawyer Roda Verheyen, left, in the courtroom at the Higher Regional Court in Hamm, Germany
A GERMAN court started hearing a Peruvian farmer’s lawsuit against energy company RWE today, which argues global warming fuelled by the firm’s historical greenhouse gas emissions ultimately poses a risk to his home.
Experts say the case at Hamm state court, western Germany, could set a significant precedent in the fight to hold major polluters accountable for climate change.
Saul Luciano Lliuya’s case argues that the company’s historical greenhouse gas emissions have fuelled global warming, accelerating glacial melt above his home town of Huaraz, Peru. As a result Lake Palcacocha has swelled to dangerous levels, risking catastrophic flooding.
The glacier collapse in Nepal is yet another warning that a warming planet is making Himalayan disasters more frequent and destructive – but the countries facing the greatest risks are often those least responsible, says LI YANG
SYLVIA HIKINS welcomes a an in-depth study of environmental activism that shows how governments work against citizens who put community before profit
One of the major criticisms of China’s breakneck development in recent decades has been the impact on nature — returning after 15 years away, BEN CHACKO assessed whether the government’s recent turn to environmentalism has yielded results