Thirty-nine farmers from Sindh are pursuing a climate lawsuit against German energy company RWE and cement producer Heidelberg Materials. They seek compensation for losses from Pakistan’s devastating 2022 floods.
The farmers argue that the companies’ greenhouse gas emissions contributed to climate change and intensified rainfall that destroyed crops, livestock and homes. Both companies reject the claims.
Abdul Hafeez Khoso, 43, travelled to Germany to pursue the case. He lives with his wife and toddler in a Jacobabad village of about 800 people.
“They’re spreading pollution: up in the sky there are no borders, it can affect anywhere,” he said.
“We had nothing left.”
Farmers Seek Compensation for Lasting Losses
The farmers filed their lawsuit at Heidelberg Regional Court on December 22, 2025, following an unsuccessful demand for compensation. Supporting organisation ECCHR says their combined losses exceed €1 million.
The plaintiffs attribute 0.68 per cent of global industrial emissions to RWE and 0.12 per cent to Heidelberg Materials. Their case concerns historical emissions rather than specific company operations in Pakistan.
Pakistani and European organisations support the litigation. HANDS Welfare Foundation helped mobilise affected communities.
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Development expert Mir Keerio said scientific evidence connects climate change with increasingly severe extreme weather. He argued that major contributors must face accountability.
The floods killed about 1,700 people, affected more than 30 million and inundated roughly a third of Pakistan.
In Dadu district, Abdul Khalique Laghari, 55, estimates losses of $14,000, including his home, livestock and crops across 40 acres.
“To this day, we are unable to repay our debt,” he said.
“This has caused us serious mental harm.”
Munawar Khatoon, 43, a female landowner in Usman Samtio village, described losing her family’s main agricultural income.
“We worry about how the next generation will manage to live if this continues,” she said.
German Ruling Shapes Climate Liability Fight
The lawsuit builds on a May 2025 ruling involving Peruvian farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya and RWE. Germany’s Higher Regional Court of Hamm dismissed his claim because the evidence did not establish sufficient flood danger.
However, the court recognised that German civil law does not automatically exclude liability for climate impacts abroad.
Lawyer Roda Verheyen, involved in both cases, argues that companies knew the general consequences of climate change decades ago.
“Large companies knew about the general impacts of climate change since the 1960s,” she said.
Both defendants call the claims “unfounded”. Heidelberg Materials says its operations complied with German law and rejects retrospective standards.
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RWE describes the lawsuit as “yet another attempt to shift climate policy demands to German courtrooms”. It argues that lawful emissions should not create retrospective civil liability.
The civil proceedings could take years. Lawyers say compensation proportionate to corporate emissions would represent a major breakthrough.
Pakistan contributes less than one per cent of global emissions but faces severe climate impacts.
“This case is for justice,” Khatoon said. “We hold these companies responsible for our destruction.”
