"After Braskem SA found liable for disaster in Maceió, Brazilian victims appeal to Dutch court against European subsidiaries", 1 July 2025

...Almost a year after Braskem SA was found guilty in the Dutch court for the sinking of neighbourhoods in Maceió, Brazil, victims who filed the lawsuit filed an appeal to hold the petrochemical company’s European subsidiaries liable as well. The appeal was filed by the plaintiffs on Tuesday (24) in the Netherlands.

In July 2024, the Rotterdam court concluded that Braskem SA is responsible for the extensive socio-environmental disaster caused to many Maceió residents and ordered the company to pay compensation to the plaintiffs, the amounts of which are yet to be determined. Now the victims are seeking to hold Braskem’s Dutch subsidiaries accountable, which profited from and contributed to the Brazilian company’s operations in Maceió. Braskem has also filed grounds of appeal in relation to Braskem S.A.’s found liability by the Dutch Courts...

The Dutch court is expected to rule on the appeals as early as 2026.

The lawsuit is being brought by nine residents of Maceió affected by the tragedy... The victims filed the lawsuit against Braskem SA and some of its subsidiaries in the Netherlands in 2020, seeking compensation after rock salt mining in the region opened craters in Maceió, the capital of Alagoas (a coastal region of Brazil) and caused neighbourhoods to sink. Thousands of others affected have already expressed interest in filing lawsuits seeking compensation...