Global warming: Indonesian fishermen file a complaint against the Swiss cement manufacturer Holcim

A photo taken on March 9, 2017, in Paris, shows a logo at the entrance to the French headquarters of LafargeHolcim, a group created in 2015 by the merger of French cement manufacturer Lafarge and its Swiss counterpart Holcim.

Thomas SAMSON / AFP

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

After the indictment in France of Lafarge for complicity in crimes against humanity in Syria, this time it is the parent company, Holcim, which is the subject of a complaint in Switzerland.

Indonesian fishermen have indeed filed a complaint Tuesday, July 12 against the world's number one concrete which is also one of the biggest polluters in the world.

They blame him for his responsibility in the global warming that threatens their island. 

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With our correspondent in Geneva

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Holcim has technically not had a presence in

since 2019. But four residents of the small island of Pulau Pari, northwest of Jakarta, hold the Swiss multinational responsible, at least in part, for 

Since 1950, the cement manufacturer has released seven billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, twice the emissions of Switzerland over the same period.

The plaintiffs – three men and one woman – helped by NGOs, therefore ask Holcim to take its responsibilities, by reducing its CO2 emissions and helping the inhabitants of Pulau Pari to finance flood protection measures.

“

,” explained one of the complainants who spoke by videoconference through an interpreter.

Legalization of issues related to climate change

The complaint was filed with a conciliation authority, which is the first step in ordinary civil proceedings, explained Nina Burri, the head of business and human rights issues, during the press conference.

In 2019, Holcim sold its Indonesia operations to local cement company Semen Indonesia.

But the group is one of the fifty companies that emit the most CO2 in the world, argues the NGO Entraide Protestante Suisse, which refers to a study according to which Holcim emitted more than seven billion tonnes of CO2 between 1950 and 2021.

For Pulau Pari, it seems almost lost.

By 2050, most of the island will be underwater.

It remains to be seen whether the complaint will be deemed admissible by the Swiss courts.

In any case, it confirms the trend towards the judicialization

(With AFP)

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