Verdict in climate trial against RWE (April 14)

Ahead of the verdict in Saúl Luciano Lliuya’s court case against the German energy company RWE, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) emphasizes that it is important not to outsource the costs of climate change to the global south, but hold companies accountable.

“Indigenous and farming communities all over the world are suffering from the dramatic effects of global warming – and many of these communities are doubly affected, as their land is being exploited for resource extraction. At the same time, companies such RWE have been making profits from fossil fuels for decades. It is unacceptable that those who have contributed the least to climate change are now bearing the brunt of its consequences,” stated Jan Königshausen, STP expert on Indigenous peoples.

“Another hearing of the case before the Higher Regional Court in Hamm would be a milestone on the path to global climate justice. However, the responsibility of the industrialized countries does not end with compensation payments for emissions of the past. While the trial focuses on the past, green colonialism is a serious problem,” Königshausen said. “Green colonialism means that the global north is still appropriating resources over the heads of indigenous groups – now for renewable forms of energy instead of fossil fuels,” the expert on Indigenous peoples explained.  

“As a major energy company, RWE is also directly involved in projects that, under the guise of the energy transition, perpetuate colonial structures. For example, RWE has signed a declaration of intent regarding plans to import green ammonia from Namibia in the future. The Hyphen Hydrogen Project is to be realized in an area that was taken away from the indigenous Nama during the German colonial rule. Further, the Nama were hardly involved in the current processes that affect their ancestral land,” stated Laura Mahler, STP expert on sub-Saharan Africa. “As a German company, RWE has a special responsibility and must ensure that its activities will not contribute to the plight of those who experienced severe violence and exploitation during the German colonial rule,” Mahler added.

Therefore, the STP is calling for a socially just transition to sustainable economic systems – a transition that respects Indigenous rights and does not perpetuate the colonial structures of the past. “The proceedings against RWE clearly show that climate protection can only be effective if it is implemented on an equal footing with those who are affected – and not by exploiting their land once again. Anyone who takes climate protection seriously must not legitimize another wave of colonial exploitation under some ‘green’ label,” Königshausen emphasized.