![]() Within an hour, the torrent would arrive at the outskirts of Huaraz. Soil, boulders and even trees would get mixed up in the flood, adding to its tremendous force. Nearly 2 million cubic meters of water would go crashing down the mountainside. ![]() It might force rich countries and giant corporations to reconsider the risks of relying on fossil fuels, and empower those on the front lines of warming to seek restitution for what they have lost.īy the time it crossed the lagoon, the wave from a large avalanche would loom 70 feet above the top of the moraine. It could pave the way for more lawsuits from developing nations that did little to cause climate change, but are bearing the brunt of its impacts. Success in Huaraz would mean that major polluters anywhere may be liable for the increasingly disastrous consequences of greenhouse gas emissions, experts say. If the judges saw this place the way he saw it, if they were convinced by Luciano Lliuya’s claims, it would mark a breakthrough in the burgeoning realm of climate litigation. Luciano Lliuya worries that the melting of the snow-capped Palcaraju glacier could cause an avalanche or rockslide at any moment. Workers examine the siphons at Laguna Palcacocha. An overhead view of the siphons installed in the lagoon to reduce the danger of flooding in Huaraz. They would ascend the rutted road to Palcaraju, examining the glacier from the very spot where Luciano Lliuya stood.įROM TOP: Saúl Luciano Lliuya, a Peruvian farmer and mountain guide who filed a lawsuit against the German energy company RWE, visits Laguna Palcacocha in Huaraz, Peru, on May 23. In the next few days, a cadre of German judges and technical experts would walk the streets of Huaraz and view the homes that could be inundated. Now the court had come to Peru to collect on-the-ground evidence - a global first for any climate case. The company’s lawyers counter that all of its operations were legal, and that the link between greenhouse gas emissions and climate impacts is too complex for any single entity to be held responsible. For seven years, Luciano Lliuya has waged a lawsuit against the German energy company RWE - part of a growing cohort of activists who have turned to the courts for climate justice as political solutions remain out of reach.Ĭiting scientific studies that link pollution from power plants to the retreat of Palcaraju’s glacier, Luciano Lliuya argues that the energy giant should help pay for measures to prevent a catastrophic flood.
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