San Francisco Frontiers - Indonesian islanders take on Swiss cement group in climate case

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 eight percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere each year.

In the case, four residents of Pari have filed a suit against the world's largest cement firm, demanding that it provide compensation for the damage wrought by climate change and help fund protection measures on the island like planting mangroves.

Two of the plaintiffs travelled to Switzerland to take part in Wednesday's hearing at the court in Zug, where Holcim is headquartered, to determine whether or not it will consider the complaint.

The hearing ended after three hours but it remained unclear how quickly the court would render its decision.

- 'Climate justice' -

"I'm confident for this step of today's proceedings," said Nina Burri, a lawyer for the Swiss Church Aid (HEKS) NGO helping the islanders.

"At core, this case is about climate justice," she told AFP outside the courthouse.

"It is about the plaintiffs and whether they have to bear the costs that they haven't caused, or whether the big polluters have to be responsible and liable for the emissions and the damages they cause."

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 after Wednesday's hearing 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".

Environmentalists allege that Holcim figures among the world's 100 largest corporate CO2 emitters, and thus bears significant responsibility for climate-related loss and damage.

The case illustrates the new face of the climate fight, as activists increasingly turn to the courts amid frustration over the slowness and even retreat of states in the fight against global warming.

If accepted, it 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 Switzerland last week.

Environmentalists have said 11 percent of the 42-hectare (104-acre) island of Pari 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, a 42-year-old mother-of-three, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, has already lost her seaweed farm due to flooding, which has also blighted her fish farm, sweeping in dirt and oil that kill off the newborns.

This year, she began with 500 small fry, "and there are only nine left", she said, adding that income "is zero".

The case is the first filed by Indonesians against a foreign company for climate-related damage, and the first instance of a Swiss firm being sued for its alleged role in such damage.

The four plaintiffs in the case are seeking 3,600 Swiss francs ($4,500) each from Holcim for damages and for protection measures such as planting mangroves and constructing breakwater barriers.

HEKS stressed that the amount was only equivalent to 0.42 percent of the actual costs -- in line with estimates that Holcim is responsible for 0.42 percent of global industrial CO2 emissions since 1750.

In addition, the plaintiffs are demanding a 43 percent reduction in Holcim's greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a 69 percent reduction by 2040.

K.Torres--SFF