A Mountain Guide's Fight for Climate Justice
Saúl Luciano Lliuya, a Quechua-speaking mountain guide, farmer, and father from the Peruvian Andes, has seen his world change irrevocably. Living in the highlands near Huaraz at 3,100 metres, his life is intrinsically linked to the mountains, including the snow-capped Nevado Churup which towers at 6,000 metres. For Saúl, the evidence of a climate in crisis is not a distant theory but a stark, visible reality he witnesses daily.
The Visible Impact of a Melting World
The glacier is slowly melting, and it's clearly visible, states Saúl, whose work as a mountain guide gives him a front-row seat to the environmental transformation. He recalls a childhood landscape rich with wetlands, abundant birdlife, waterfalls, and deer known as taruca. Today, that vibrant ecosystem has diminished, replaced by the silent retreat of ice and the formation of dangerous new lagoons.
The most significant of these is Lake Palcacocha. In 1941, an avalanche caused this lagoon to overflow, triggering a mudslide that killed between 18,000 and 20,000 people. Since that disaster, the Palcacocha lagoon has grown 34 times its 1941 size due to continued glacial melt. Experts warn that another avalanche could cause a catastrophic flood, directly threatening the 50,000 people, including Saúl and his family, who now live in the repopulated risk zone below.
Saúl describes a community feeling abandoned. Both the authorities and the people don't know what to do, he says. He advocates for practical adaptations like dams and reservoirs to mitigate the risk, but help has not materialised.
A Landmark Legal Battle for Corporate Accountability
This sense of helplessness led Saúl to become the lead plaintiff in a landmark climate lawsuit against German energy giant RWE. The case, supported by the Germanwatch organisation, argued that as a major greenhouse gas emitter, RWE should be held partially responsible for the impacts of climate change, including the melting glaciers that threaten his home.
The lawsuit sought €17,000 (approximately £15,000) from RWE, calculated as its 0.47% contribution to global emissions, to fund a portion of a protective dam project. However, on 28 May, the higher regional court of Hamm dismissed his case, ruling there was no concrete, imminent threat to his property.
Despite the dismissal, the case set a crucial precedent. The court held that major greenhouse gas emitters could be held accountable for the impacts of their emissions under German law. Saúl sees this as a partial victory, noting that his decade-long legal effort has helped pave the way for 45 to 60 other pending lawsuits against polluting companies worldwide.
For Saúl, this fight is deeply personal, driven by concern for his family, his fellow farmers living in poverty, and the future of the mountains that sustain them. If the glaciers disappear, it would be a disaster, he says. The mountains and the glaciers are what feed the springs in the valleys, providing water for both agriculture and city life. His hope is that through legal pressure and global awareness, the rate of melting can be slowed, preserving the majestic Andean world for generations to come.
