LIMA, Peru — A landmark climate lawsuit opens in a German court Monday, as a Peruvian farmer sues a German energy giant over the threat to his home from a mountain lake overflowing with glacier meltwater.

Saul Luciano Lliuya, a Peruvian farmer, has taken legal action against German energy firm RWE for contributing to climate change, which he argues endangers his hometown through melting glaciers. A landmark ruling in the ongoing case could hold RWE accountable for past emissions and fund climate adaptation.

A Peruvian farmer who says German energy giant RWE's emissions have contributed to the melting of Andean glaciers, increasing the flood risk to his home, took his case to court on Monday in a hearing that could set a precedent for climate litigation.

The case has taken nearly 10 years to be heard with judges travelling to Peru to visit his village. View on euronews

A Peruvian farmer taking a German energy giant to court says he is battling for "climate justice" and wants the company to pay for the consequences of rising temperatures.

Peruvian farmer Saul Luciano Lliuya is suing German energy firm RWE, claiming its emissions contribute to glacier melting in the Andes, increasing flood risk to his home. The case could set a precedent for climate litigation,

He wants the German company to pay 17,000 euros ($18,400) towards flood defences for his community, arguing that the fossil fuels the firm uses to generate electricity make it partly responsible for the flood risk.

A German court on Monday resumes hearing a landmark case brought by a Peruvian farmer who argues that the German energy giant RWE's emissions have contributed to the melting of Andean glaciers, increasing the flood risk to his home.

A German court is hearing a case by Peruvian farmer Saul Luciano Lliuya against energy giant RWE. The suit claims RWE's greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming, endangering Lliuya's hometown with potential flooding.