Thirty-nine farmers from Sindh are suing two German companies, RWE and Heidelberg Materials, over the 2022 floods. They say the firms’ greenhouse gas emissions helped make the rains worse. The case is at an early stage, and AFP says it is likely to take years. Both companies deny the claims. Here is what the sources say, who is involved and what is still unclear.
What Is the Case?
AFP (9 November 2026) says the farmers argue that the emissions of RWE and Heidelberg Materials added to climate change and to the heavy rain that destroyed crops, livestock and homes in 2022. The companies are being sued for their emissions, not for any work in Pakistan. Al Jazeera (20 March 2026) says neither company has ground operations in Pakistan.
Who Are the Farmers?
Both reports say 39 farmers from Sindh are involved. AFP names Abdul Hafeez Khoso, a 43-year-old from Jacobabad district, as the lead plaintiff, along with 38 others. It also names Munawar Khatoon of Usman Samtio village and Abdul Khalique Laghari of Dadu district. Al Jazeera names different farmers, including Inayatullah Laghari of Baid Sharif village in Dadu and Gul Hasan Babar, a retired teacher. The reports are about the same group.
AFP quotes Khoso as saying, “They’re spreading pollution: up in the sky there are no borders, it can affect anywhere.” Laghari estimates he lost $14,000 in assets, including his house, 40 acres of crops and livestock.
Who Are the Companies?
- RWE is a German energy company headquartered in Essen.
- Heidelberg Materials is a cement and building materials maker based in Heidelberg.
Al Jazeera says the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) chose them as two of the three biggest CO2 emitters in Germany, using the Carbon Majors database. AFP says the plaintiffs estimate that RWE accounts for 0.68% and Heidelberg Materials for 0.12% of global industrial emissions. These percentages come from the plaintiffs.
Where Was It Filed?
Al Jazeera says the case was filed in December 2025 in a court in Heidelberg, which is reviewing it. AFP does not name the court. Al Jazeera quotes ECCHR’s Miriam Saage-Maab as saying the case has a strong chance of going to trial. Neither report names the law the claim is based on or gives a hearing date.
How Much Are the Farmers Asking For?
Neither report gives a sum. For context, Al Jazeera says the 2022 floods displaced about 30 million people, killed more than 1,700 and caused damage estimated at $40 billion. AFP says the floods hit about a third of Pakistan.
What the Companies Say
- RWE: Al Jazeera quotes a January statement calling the case “yet another attempt to shift climate policy demands to German courtrooms.” It says such cases harm Germany as a place for industry and weaken legal certainty. AFP reports that both companies call the claims “unfounded.”
- Heidelberg Materials: AFP says its operations followed German law and that firms cannot be expected to meet standards applied backwards in time. Al Jazeera says the company confirmed it received a legal notice but made no public statement.
Who Is Backing the Farmers?
- ECCHR, a Berlin-based rights group, represents them, according to Al Jazeera.
- Pakistan’s National Trade Union Federation, led by Nasir Mansoor, gathers and translates evidence. Al Jazeera says it also helped victims of the 2012 Karachi garment factory fire in their case against the German firm KiK. Mansoor calls this Pakistan’s first cross-border climate case.
- AFP says HANDS Welfare Foundation helped organise communities for the suit.
- AFP quotes German lawyer Verheyen, who says the firms have known about climate change effects “since the 1960s” and should have cut their emissions.
The Earlier Peruvian Case
Both reports say this case builds on a case by a Peruvian farmer against RWE in Germany. Al Jazeera says it was filed in 2015 and dismissed by a German court in 2025. It adds that the court still ruled that companies can, in principle, be held liable for specific climate harms from their emissions. AFP says the compensation claim was rejected but left open the chance of holding emitters liable. Neither report names the farmer. The case is widely known as Lliuya v RWE, but I did not confirm the name in these two reports.
Al Jazeera also notes that the KiK case was rejected on procedural grounds, but KiK later paid compensation to victims.
Why It Matters
AFP says climate cases have mostly targeted governments, and only a few companies, such as Shell and Holcim, face similar suits. It also says that even a win would not solve the wider problems faced by millions of Pakistanis hit by floods. WWF-Pakistan’s Hammad Naqi Khan told Al Jazeera that local authorities must also be questioned on climate resilience. Al Jazeera says Pakistan’s climate and disaster management authorities did not respond to its requests for comment.
What I Could Not Confirm
- The court’s name and case number. Only Al Jazeera says Heidelberg.
- The legal basis of the claim and any hearing dates.
- The amount of compensation sought.
- Any court decision. As of these reports, none has been made.
The AFP report was a single wire story. The emissions shares come from the plaintiffs. The SCMP and Arab News pages did not open, so I did not use them. The outcome is uncertain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is suing whom?
39 farmers from Sindh are suing RWE and Heidelberg Materials.
What is the claim?
That the companies’ emissions helped cause heavier rain and the 2022 floods.
Where was the case filed?
In a court in Heidelberg in December 2025, according to Al Jazeera.
How much are they asking for?
Not stated in the reports.
What do the companies say?
Both deny wrongdoing and call the claims unfounded, according to AFP.
Who is helping the farmers?
ECCHR, the National Trade Union Federation and HANDS Welfare Foundation.
How long will it take?
AFP says the case is likely to take years.
No court has ruled yet. The case is at an early stage.
