#Measures for climate adaptation#Conservation of nature and environment#Law enforcement#Ecological farming
About the foundation
Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit is committed to global justice and respect for planetary boundaries in line with the 2030 Agenda and the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.
The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.
Why we fund
Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit is committed to sustainable development, i.e. to securing the livelihoods of current and future generations and to global distributive justice. In doing so, it follows the demands implicit in the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals formulated therein. It aims to help bridge the gap between the recognized need to change course and the actual actions of politicians, businesses and consumers.
In these comprehensive transformation processes of society and the economy, the Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit attaches particular importance to international climate protection, but also to changes in animal husbandry for a sustainable global food supply.
The Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit is particularly involved in the international climate protection debate as a mediator between different points of view. It has recently become increasingly involved as a supporter and companion of model climate lawsuits.
In this context, Stiftung Zukunftjetzt! supports Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit in covering the costs of such legal proceedings (e.g. in the form of lawyers' fees, court costs and expert opinions as well as travel, coordination and public relations expenses).
The legal debate can now be followed by the presentation of scientific evidence in court, for example in the case of Saúl Luciano Lliuya against RWE. The case has a signal effect: investors worldwide must now be aware of new risks of legal action!
The foundation complements the work of Germanwatch with selected networking activities as well as political emphasis and discussions.
PROJECT DETAILS
What we fund
The climate crisis is getting worse and worse, yet politicians and businesses are not doing enough to slow down global warming. The Stiftung Zukunftjetzt! supports strategic legal proceedings in which public and private actors are called upon to act.
Picture: Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit
The Huaraz climate lawsuit against RWE continues and emphatically points to the responsibility of major emitters from industry
The case is now in its ninth year.
Together with the German NGO Germanwatch, Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit has been supporting the Peruvian Andean farmer and mountain guide Saúl Luciano Lliuya in a civil climate lawsuit against the German energy company RWE since 2015.
Due to the melting of glaciers caused by climate change, a glacial lake above the Andean town of Huaraz, located at an altitude of 3,000 meters, has grown considerably. If the dam bursts, Saúl Luciano Lliuya's house and a large part of the town of Huaraz, which lies below the glacial lake, are threatened with a catastrophic flood.
As Europe's largest CO2 emitter, RWE is responsible for around half a percent of all man-made greenhouse gas emissions worldwide since the beginning of industrialization. In this test case, Saúl Luciano Lliuya is demanding that the company pay for around 0.5% of the protective measures required at the glacial lake.
The lawsuit is currently being heard by the Hamm Higher Regional Court. At the end of May 2022, the court-ordered and highly publicized on-site hearing took place in the Andean city of Huaraz and at the glacial lake. Judges from the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Hamm, legal advisors and experts traveled to Peru - remarkable in the context of a civil law case - to inspect the situation on site and assess the risks of a dam bursting.
The parties have now submitted their comments to the court on the expert report prepared by the court's expert, which has been available since July 2023. The next public hearing at Hamm Higher Regional Court is expected to take place in the middle of this year.
The importance of an early decision in this test case is demonstrated by the release of a debris avalanche into the lake on 23.01.2024(see video).
A study published in February 2021 by researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Washington could make an important contribution to further evidence. It comes to the clear conclusion that around 95 percent of the warming that is causing the glaciers to melt in the region above Huaraz is due to human emissions.
The number of climate lawsuits to protect people affected by climate change is increasing worldwide. Saúl Luciano Lliuya was present at the COP27 climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh to provide information about the case and exchange ideas with other stakeholders in the context of climate lawsuits.
The Stiftung Zukunftjetzt! has been supporting this special model lawsuit since 2020. In 2024, it is again supporting the coordination and climate policy advisory work surrounding the case and the upcoming oral hearing.
The Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit is committed to global justice and respect for planetary boundaries in line with the SDGs and the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Picture: Julius Schrank und Gordon Welters / Greenpeace, private
For the right to a future - the climate constitutional complaint
At the beginning of 2020, nine young people aged between 15 and 32 from different regions of Germany decided to go to the Federal Constitutional Court to have the Federal Climate Protection Act passed in 2019 reviewed. In their eyes, this is too weak to effectively curb the consequences of the climate crisis today and in the future.
The lives of the plaintiffs extend into the second half of the 21st century, when the effects of global warming will reach a much higher intensity than is already the case today. Their families work in tourism or agriculture and live on islands such as Pellworm or Langeoog. They are already feeling the effects of the climate crisis in the form of extreme weather events and rising sea levels and are worried about their future. The German government is not fulfilling its mandate to protect their fundamental rights to life and physical integrity, property and profession, as enshrined in the German Basic Law, with its insufficient climate policy.
Historic ruling
On April 29, the Federal Constitutional Court announced its decision, setting a new standard for climate and fundamental rights protection that no German court has ever done before. This is a great success, especially for young people, because for the first time climate protection is being interpreted in a way that is fair to all generations. The court recognizes that a reduction in emissions should not be delayed into the future, as this would lead to a restriction of the freedoms and fundamental rights of young people and future generations. The Federal Climate Protection Act is largely unconstitutional and must be amended.
Together with Greenpeace and Protect the Planet, Germanwatch supported the constitutional complaint of the nine young people, but did not appear as a plaintiff itself.
With the support of the Stiftung Zukunftjetzt!, Germanwatch's work in 2021 will focus on public relations work relating to the significance of the ruling and its political implementation. Germanwatch is also internationally networked, so that the BVerfG's decision can also be used in other pending climate lawsuits to give them a tailwind.
We can not have equilibrium in this world with the current inequality and destruction of Mother Earth. Capitalism is what is causing this problem and it needs to end.
