"Historic breakthrough with global impact in 'climate lawsuit'", 30 Nov 2017

The decision announced today by the Higher Regional Court Hamm (Germany) to enter into the evidentiary stage in the case of Saúl Luciano Lliuya against the german utility RWE is of great legal relevance. It is the first time that a court acknowledged that a private company is in principal responsible for its share in causing climate damages... Today’s decision [...] has immediate implications on the legal duties of great emitters all around the globe... The relevant litigation risk has to be communicated to shareholders and adequate financial reserves must be built - investors will have to take those risks into account when taking their investment decisions... The decision establishes a solid argument for legal causality in cases that were not accepted before... The case at hand now enters into the next stage – the taking of evidence. After the legal argument of this case has been accepted by the court, the task is now to prove the plaintiff’s concrete claims before the court.