Assalaamualaikum - Sindh farmers seek €1 million from German companies over 2022 floods
Assalaamualaikum. A group of 43 farmers from Sindh has sent legal notices to two German companies, RWE and Heidelberg Materials, asking them to pay about €1 million in compensation for losses from the devastating 2022 floods.
The notices were served on Oct. 28 and warn that court action will follow in December unless a settlement is reached. This is one of the first times Pakistani farmers have formally tried to hold major international carbon-emitting firms responsible for damage they say was driven by climate change.
Pakistan, which contributes less than 1% of global emissions, was hit very hard by the 2022 floods: more than 1,700 people died, around 33 million were displaced, and losses exceeded $30 billion. Local officials say they had to borrow money to rebuild and feel wealthy industrial nations have not done enough to help.
Nasir Mansoor of the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) said the farmers from Jacobabad, Dadu and Larkana districts want these companies to pay what they believe is a fair share - roughly €1 million - for the damages they suffered.
Representatives from the farmers, civil society and legal teams say RWE and Heidelberg have long been major emitters and knew their pollution would harm people, yet failed to act. The NTUF, HANDS Welfare Foundation and an international human-rights group are supporting the claimants as part of a wider global climate-justice effort.
Many claimants describe heartbreaking losses. Inayat Laghari from Khairpur Nathan Shah lost a 12-acre rice crop and later the wheat harvest too. He said the floods wiped away not just his crop, but his family’s yearly livelihood and his children’s hopes. He also lost livestock and a cousin died from the shock. Another farmer, Ghulam Ullah from Deed Sharif in Dadu, lost rice, cotton and chili fields across nearly 40 acres and suffered heavy livestock losses.
The legal notice asks the companies to accept responsibility and pay the farmers’ estimated share of damages. Lawyers for the farmers say they will file suit in December if there is no settlement.
May Allah make things easy for those who suffered and guide us all to protect His creation. Wa alaikum assalaam.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/