Indonesian villagers take on Swiss cement giant Holcim to seek climate justice
- Four of Pari Island’s 1200 residents are suing company for compensation after tidal flooding due to global warming, in groundbreaking lawsuit
- Lawyers say Holcim, world’s biggest cement firm, does not work in Pari but ‘accounts for 0.4 per cent of global carbon emissions in 100 years’
While floods and street puddles were already regular features close to the beach, 2019 was the first time seawater forcefully entered residential areas.
“We have been hit several times by tidal floods but 2019 was by far the largest we ever had,” said Edy, whose house – in which he grew up – is 50 metres from the shore.
The 37-year-old fisherman said seawater never got into his home when he was a child, but three years ago “the floods were so bad” that it did. Groundwater was also affected, Edy said, with water in village wells “contaminated with salty seawater”.
The increased frequency and severity of tidal floods on the 43-hectare (106-acre) island have prompted Edy and three other residents to embark on legal action against a massive multinational firm with operations in 70 countries – but not in Pari – and its headquarters in Switzerland, 11,000km (6800 miles) away.
If they succeed, it will also be the first time a Swiss company is held legally accountable for its planet-heating role, according to a statement from Swiss Church Aid HEKS/EPER, which campaigns for a fairer world.
