Environmentalists say cement production is responsible for around 8% of global CO2 emissions, and allege that Holcim figures among the 100 largest CO2 emitters among all companies worldwide.
The company thus bears significant responsibility for climate-related loss and damages, the suit maintains, in a case that could be a milestone for plaintiffs from developing countries who take on industrial giants.
‘Inspirational’
“I hope the case will become inspirational... for climate victims” around the world, plaintiff Asmania told reporters in the Swiss city of Lausanne before the hearing, speaking through a translator.
Environmentalists have said most of the 42ha (104-acre) island of Pari could be underwater by 2050 because of rising sea levels.
The islanders say saltwater floods have in recent years surged in scale and frequency, battering homes and damaging livelihoods.
Asmania, a 42-year-old mother of three, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, has already lost her seaweed farm because of flooding, which has also ravaged her fish farm, sweeping in dirt and oil that kill off the babies.
This year, she began with 500 small fry, “and there are only nine left”, she said, adding that income “is zero”.
‘Biggest threat’
Another plaintiff, 54-year-old mechanic and beach manager Arif Pujianto, also said climate impacts were taking a dire toll.
“The climate crisis is the biggest threat to my life,” he said through a translator.
He described how severe flooding of Star Beach had shrunk the pristine stretch of sand by 9m since 2021, driving away tourists vital for his income.
At the same time, tidal floods now regularly reach his bamboo house, rotting the walls and contaminating his well, forcing him to purchase drinking water for his family at a high price.
The small workshop where he repairs motorcycles and diesel engines has also been repeatedly flooded, rusting his equipment, he said.
If the Swiss court refuses to take the case, Arif said he feared he would lose his beach, his island and even his life.
A first
Environmental litigation against Governments and fossil fuel firms seen as responsible for the greatest CO2 emissions has surged in recent years, but the case marks the first such action against a major cement company.
It is also the first filed by Indonesians against a foreign company for climate-related damage, and the first instance of a Swiss company being sued for its alleged role in such damage.
The four plaintiffs in the case are seeking 3600 Swiss francs ($4500) each from Holcim for damages and protection measures such as planting mangroves and constructing breakwater barriers.
Swiss Church Aid (HEKS), an NGO helping the islanders, stressed that the amount was only equivalent to 0.42% of the actual costs – in line with estimates that Holcim is responsible for 0.42% of global industrial CO2 emissions since 1750.
In addition, the plaintiffs are demanding a 43% reduction in Holcim’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a 69% reduction by 2040, with HEKS saying this was in line with the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C, compared to the pre-industrial era.
- Agence France-Presse
