How a Peruvian farmer’s legal defeat raised new risks for companies

‌Rarely has the losing side in a court case looked so pleased with the outcome. Last week, a court in the German city of Hamm threw out a suit brought by Saúl Luciano Lliuya, a Peruvian farmer, against the electricity company RWE. Lliuya had argued that his village was threatened by the melting of a mountain glacier, which had been accelerated by climate change. He asserted that RWE — as one of the world’s largest all-time carbon emitters — must pay its share of the cost to protect against a disastrous flood.