SEOUL — High in the Peruvian Andes, 4,562 meters above sea level, lies Lake Palcacocha, a striking emerald glacial lake. Downstream in the mountain city of Huaraz lives Saúl Luciano Lliuya, a potato and corn farmer and part-time mountain guide. Today, Lliuya and his community face an existential crisis: rising global temperatures are melting nearby glaciers, swelling the lake and creating an imminent threat of catastrophic flash floods known as Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF).

In 2015, Lliuya took a groundbreaking step by filing a civil lawsuit against RWE, one of Germany’s largest energy companies, demanding that the corporate giant take responsibility for its contribution to climate change-induced flood risks. Visiting Seoul, South Korea, Lliuya shared his story during a press conference held at the Korea Press Center.

“Half of Huaraz was destroyed and thousands died in a massive glacial lake outburst in 1941,” Lliuya recalled. “Today, there are around 500 glacial lakes near my mountainous home, and Lake Palcacocha is expanding rapidly, posing a severe danger.” He added that a minor overflow last year affected a local family, leaving residents deeply anxious following a similar devastating flood in Nepal last August.

A Disruptive Reality for Local Farmers

For Lliuya, the impacts of climate change are woven into the fabric of daily life. Traditional agricultural practices have been upended. “Thirty years ago, harvested potatoes could be stored for a full year. Now, they are ruined by pests within two months,” he noted. Corn storage has similarly dropped from three years to mere months.

Higher temperatures have driven up pest populations, slashing crop yields while sharply increasing the costs of fertilizers and pesticides. Furthermore, receding glaciers and drier mountain conditions have depleted local water sources, making it harder to secure water and feed livestock. “The mountains used to be covered in pristine, beautiful white glaciers. Now, as the ice melts and bare rock is exposed, the landscape has completely changed,” Lliuya said.

Holding Global Emitters Accountable

Lliuya targeted RWE because it is among the world’s top historical greenhouse gas emitters. His legal argument is straightforward: fossil fuel companies should bear proportional financial responsibility for the risks their emissions create. Specifically, Lliuya calculated RWE’s global emissions contribution at roughly 0.5% and requested $17,500 (approx. 23.5 million KRW) out of the $3.5 million needed to fund flood prevention infrastructure for Huaraz.

In May of last year, the Higher Regional Court of Hamm in Germany dismissed the specific claim, ruling that the immediate flood risk to Lliuya’s home was currently very low. However, the court made a landmark legal breakthrough by affirming that global climate change does not exempt individual corporations from civil liability. The judges established that if specific risks and a company's direct contribution can be proven, corporations can indeed be held legally accountable—even if the emitter and the climate victim live on opposite sides of the planet. As part of the proceedings, the judges even traveled to Peru to inspect the site firsthand.

Solidarity Across Borders

During his visit to South Korea, Lliuya met with Korean farmers who have initiated a similar climate lawsuit. Song Ki-bong (who switched from peaches to leafy greens in Icheon due to heatwaves), Hwang Sung-yeol (a rice farmer in Dangjin), and Ma Yong-woon (an apple farmer in Hamyang) filed a damages lawsuit last August against Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and five of its power generation subsidiaries, holding them responsible for climate change-driven agricultural losses.

Expressing deep solidarity, Lliuya told the Korean farmers, “It is natural to wonder why we must suffer like this when we did nothing to contribute to climate change.” Reflecting on his own decade-long legal battle, he added, “When I started 10 years ago, even the people in my hometown didn’t understand me, but the mountains gave me courage. I understand the path you are walking. It is a necessary journey, but one filled with challenges.”

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]