Locals from a tiny Indonesian island are one step closer to taking a global cement giant to court in what would be a landmark climate change case.
Four residents of Pari Island have filed a lawsuit in Switzerland demanding compensation from the world's largest cement firm Holcim for the damage wrought to their home by climate change.
The plaintiffs travelled to Switzerland to take part in Wednesday's hearing at the court in Zug, where Holcim is headquartered, to determine whether it will consider the complaint.
The case is part of a wider international movement seeking to assign to major companies responsibility for the climate damage hurting the livelihoods of millions of people, especially in developing countries.
Oil companies have typically been the biggest targets, but climate activists are hoping the suit against Holcim will highlight the role of a lesser-known but highly polluting industry, which is responsible for around 8 per cent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere each year.
"It is like a David versus Goliath struggle," one of the plaintiffs, Asmania, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP after the hearing.
"I feel very moved,” the 42-year-old mother-of-three said.
"I believe the judges will stand for us, so we will win."
Pari Island ravaged by climate change
Environmentalists have said 11 per cent of the 42-hectare island has already disappeared in recent years, and it could be completely under water by 2050 due to rising sea levels.
The islanders say saltwater floods have surged in scale and frequency, battering homes and damaging livelihoods.
Asmania has already lost her seaweed farm because of flooding, which has also blighted her fish farm.
"We are the climate victims, but we are not contributing to big emissions," she said.
"It is our survival that is at stake."
[MAP]The four plaintiffs are seeking 3,600 Swiss francs ($6,847) each from Holcim for damages and for protection measures such as planting mangroves and constructing breakwater barriers.
In addition, the plaintiffs are demanding a 43 per cent reduction in Holcim's greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a 69 per cent reduction by 2040.
The company has not owned any cement plants in Indonesia since 2019, but the plaintiffs maintain it "shares responsibility for rising temperatures and thus rising sea levels", explained Yvan Maillard-Ardenti of the Swiss Church Aid (HEKS) NGO helping the islanders.
Holcim argues court wrong place for case
Environmentalists say Holcim ranks among the world's 100 biggest corporate CO2 emitters, and so bears significant responsibility for climate-related loss and damage.
HEKS stressed that the amount was only equivalent to 0.42 per cent of the actual costs, in line with estimates that Holcim is responsible for 0.42 per cent of global industrial CO2 emissions since 1750.
"The contrast is enormous between this island, which is disappearing, and the wealth we have here in Zug," Mr Maillard-Ardenti said.
"This wealth comes from large multinationals like Holcim, (which) have never paid a single franc in climate compensation," he said, stressing that the total 14,000 francs requested by the plaintiffs was "less than an hour's salary for the chairman of Holcim's board".
Before the hearing, Holcim maintained that "the question of who is allowed to emit how much CO2" should be "a matter for the legislature and not a question for a civil court".
But it said Wednesday that "we await the court's decision", insisting that it was "fully committed to reaching net zero by 2050 with sustainability at the core of our strategy".
The case illustrates the new face of the climate fight, as activists use the courts rather than rely on political action to address global warming.
If accepted, it could be a milestone for plaintiffs from developing countries who take on industrial giants.
It was not clear when the court would decide if it would hear the case.
AFP/ABC
