Four Indonesian islanders sue cement giant Holcim US oil giant Exxon posts record $55.7 billion profit

Arif, Asmania, Bobby and Edi go to court against one of the world’s largest manufacturers of building materials. The four inhabitants of the endangered Indonesian island of Pari filed a lawsuit against Holcim before the subdistrict court of Zug on Monday. This is the first time that a Swiss company has had to take legal responsibility for its contribution to climate change. The Relief Organization of the Evangelical Churches in Switzerland (Heks) writes this in a statement. It supports the four claimants together with the European human rights organization ECCHR and the Indonesian environmental organization Walhi.

Specifically, the islanders accuse the group of being partly responsible for damage on the island “as a result of past, current and future excessive CO₂ emissions”, ie for the rise in sea levels and the devastating floods. On the one hand, the islanders demand compensation for the “climate damage incurred”, on the other hand, Holcim must reduce its CO₂ emissions faster than intended and contribute financially to measures to protect against flooding. For this, dams must be built and mangroves planted.

An arbitration procedure precedes the lawsuit. However, because this did not lead to an agreement and “Holcim showed no willingness to address the concerns during the arbitration session last October”, the islanders are now going to court. When asked, Holcim confirmed that the October arbitration process produced “no concrete results”. Holcim does not want to give any information about what was discussed in these negotiations.

The island is about to sink

Rising sea levels regularly cause flooding on the island. In recent years, one tenth of the island’s surface has disappeared under water. If things continue like this, the island will probably be largely gone by 2050. Plaintiff Asmania is said to have said in the statement that her survival is under threat, “we want those responsible to finally take action”.

At an event last July, Heks climate expert Yvan Maillard justified the fact that the lawsuit is explicitly directed against Holcim by saying that “Holcim is the world’s largest manufacturer of building materials and also the only Swiss company on the list of so-called ‘carbon majors’. “.

These include the world’s largest companies in the coal, oil, gas and cement industries, which have been responsible for a large share of greenhouse gas emissions since the beginning of industrialization. Holcim itself is one of the fifty largest CO₂ emitters in the world. Thus, it is “very likely” that “Holcim’s activities are a major contributor to the climate crisis”.said Maillard.