. It feels like its time has finally come.

RWE has never operated in Peru, but the 44-year-old farmer argued that, as one of the world’s top emitters of carbon dioxide, the firm was partly responsible for the flood risk.The court, however, rejected Lliuya’s claim against RWE, saying that there was “no concrete danger to his property” from a potential flood.

The ruling was nonetheless a “milestone” for climate litigation, Lliuya’s lawyer Roda Verheyen said in a statement.“This is an extraordinary case,” said Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen, reporting from Hamm, Germany. “For the first time, a person from the Global South is filing a legal case against a company from the Global North, holding it responsible, accountable for global warming and effects of it” on their home country.Presenting data from the Carbon Majors database, which tracks historical emissions from chief fossil fuel producers, Lliuya said RWE, Germany’s largest energy company, is responsible for nearly 0.5 percent of global man-made emissions since the industrial revolution and must pay a proportional share of the costs needed to adapt to climate change.

For a $3.5m flood defence project needed in his region, RWE’s share would be about $17,500, according to Lliuya’s calculations.The Peruvian farmer, whose family grows corn, wheat, barley and potatoes, has said he decided to sue RWE because it is one of Europe’s biggest polluters – rather than any particular company projects near his home.

RWE, which is phasing out its coal-fired power plants, has said a single emitter of carbon dioxide cannot be held responsible for climate change. It also said the attempt to create a legal precedent had failed.

“We regard it as an entirely misplaced approach to turn courtrooms into a forum for NGOs’ demands on climate protection policies,” the utility said in a statement.The gang also offered to help launder money by building properties near the tourist town of Victoria Falls. This, Angel said, would be appreciated by Mnangagwa because it would allow him “to cut a ribbon”, and build his legacy as a leader who brought visible infrastructure investments into Zimbabwe.

“A politician wants to open something,” Angel told Al Jazeera’s undercover reporters. “Gold is easy, but there is nowhere to cut a ribbon.”Tendai Biti, former Zimbabwe minister of finance, told Al Jazeera that although gold trade by law should be overseen by the central bank, the vast majority of gold is smuggled out of the country.

“We have got world class deposits of gold, but we have nothing to show for it,” Biti said. “I think we are losing about a billion US dollars in illegal gold exports — which is a euphemism for gold smuggling.”“The biggest challenge Zimbabwe now faces is the existential threat that comes from this mafia, the gold mafia.”