Residents of an Indonesian island threatened by climate change have pressed ahead with their legal action against Swiss cement giant Holcim, as litigation over the effects of climate change gathers momentum in 2023.
The compensation case mirrors a landmark lawsuit brought by a Peruvian farmer and mountain guide against RWE over the German energy supplier’s contribution to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions.
The four residents of Pulau Pari filed the case on Monday in the Swiss canton of Zug, where Holcim is headquartered, following a “conciliation meeting” last year where they failed to reach a resolution.
The island residents aim to hold Holcim liable for its pollution and are seeking compensation for “climate damages”. They argue that the 1,500 people living on Pari are at significant risk of losing their livelihoods due to sea level rise and flooding, even though they had contributed little to global emissions.
They are demanding that Holcim pay 0.42 per cent of the cost of damages already incurred and impending, and of new flood protection measures, since they argue the company contributed 0.42 per cent of the global fossil fuel and cement emissions put into the atmosphere since 1751, citing a study by research group the Climate Accountability Institute.
They are also asking the company — which had its net zero emissions plans approved by the influential Science Based Targets initiative oversight group — to commit to more rapidly reducing its carbon emissions.
Cement making requires high temperatures traditionally generated by fossil fuels that contribute the greenhouse gases behind climate change.
