Receding glaciers, advancing law: the imperative of using best available science in the case of Lliuya v. RWE and beyond
Author(s)
Minnerop, Petra
Otto, Friederike
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
On 28 May 2025, the Higher Court of Appeal in Hamm (Germany) delivered a pioneering judgment in the case Lliuya v. RWE. The Court confirmed that German private nuisance law was applicable in the transnational context, and that the greenhouse gas emissions of the energy company RWE contributed to climate change and its adverse impacts. Based on the evidence provided, the Court concluded that the normative threshold of ‘imminence’ of a future, first-time property impairment was not reached. This article assesses the Court’s reasoning and the challenges it faced in determining ‘imminence’ considering conflicting scientific evidence. Against the backdrop of a legal and scientific analysis, the article argues that the physical laws underpinning climate change, and the scientific assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, form a baseline of ‘best available science’ for the legal assessment of climate risks. Case-specific evidence that deviates from this baseline, requires a careful consideration. Furthermore, the legal interpretation of causally relevant evidence must depend on whether the science provides a qualitative or a quantitative statement.
Date Issued
2026-06-16
Date Acceptance
2026-04-10
Citation
Transnational Environmental Law, 2026, pp.1-28
ISSN
2047-1025
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Start Page
1
End Page
28
Journal / Book Title
Transnational Environmental Law
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that no alterations are made and the original article is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press or the rights holder(s) must be obtained prior to any commercial use and/or adaptation of the article.
Identifier
10.1017/S2047102526100314
Subjects
Climate litigation
Private nuisance law
Climate change
Glacial retreat
Glacial lake outburst flood
Causation and climate impacts
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2026-06-16