Netherlands ‘insufficiently’ protects Caribbean island from climate change, court rules
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A Bonaire resident weeping outside the Hague District Court after it ordered the Dutch government to do more to protect the island from climate change effects.
PHOTO: AFP
- Dutch court ruled Netherlands "insufficiently" protects Bonaire from climate change, violating human rights by unequal treatment compared to the European Netherlands.
- The court ordered binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the Dutch economy within 18 months, following the ICJ advisory opinion.
- Greenpeace hailed the "groundbreaking" ruling as a victory for Bonaire residents facing rising seas and extreme heat, potentially setting a global precedent.
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THE HAGUE – The Netherlands “insufficiently” protects the tiny Caribbean territory of Bonaire from climate change, a Dutch court said on Jan 28, in what Greenpeace hailed as a “ground-breaking” environmental justice ruling.
Residents of the Dutch territory off the coast of Venezuela had teamed up with Greenpeace to sue the Dutch government, demanding “concrete measures” to shield the island from rising waters.
The ruling by the Hague District Court warned that Bonaire residents “are being treated differently from the inhabitants of the European part of the Netherlands without good reason”, calling it a violation of their human rights.
It ordered the Netherlands to set binding interim targets within 18 months “for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across the entire economy”.
The ruling follows an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found that states violating their climate obligations were committing an “unlawful” act.
Greenpeace had already said the Bonaire case was the “first major test case on a state’s mitigation and adaptation ambition” after the ICJ’s ruling, adding that it “could set a precedent with global relevance”.
The campaign group’s Netherlands director, Ms Marieke Vellekoop, described the Jan 28 ruling as a “ground-breaking” judgment in comments to AFP.
“This is a truly historic victory,” she said.
“The inhabitants of Bonaire finally get the recognition that the government is discriminating against them and must protect them from the extreme heatwaves and the rising waters.”
‘Unbearable’ heat
The low-lying Netherlands is famous for its protective measures against rising waters, mainly based on an extensive system of barriers and dykes.
But campaigners argue that it does not provide the same protection for its overseas territories such as Bonaire.
They had called for a plan in place for Bonaire by April 2027 and for the Netherlands to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2040 rather than 2050 as agreed at a European Union level.
Residents of Bonaire teamed up with Greenpeace to sue the Dutch government.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The government had argued it was an “autonomous task” of the local authorities to develop a plan to counter the ravages of climate change.
Campaigners pointed to a survey by Amsterdam’s Vrije Universiteit showing that the sea could swallow as much as a fifth of Bonaire by the end of the century.
Bonaire is a former Dutch colony in the Caribbean.
In 2010, it became one of three so-called special municipalities of the Netherlands along with Saba and St Eustatius.
During court hearings in 2025, some of the island’s 27,000 residents shared their experiences battling rising seas and temperatures.
“Climate change is not a distant threat for us,” Bonaire farmer Onnie Emerenciana told judges.
“Where we used to work, play, walk or fish during the day, the heat is now often unbearable.”
Bonaire is a former Dutch colony in the Caribbean that lies off the coast of Venezuela.
PHOTO: AFP
Equal treatment
The climates in Europe and the Caribbean are not the same, the court said in its ruling.
“There is no good reason why measures for the inhabitants of Bonaire, who will be affected by climate change sooner and more severely, should be taken later and less systematically than for the European part of the Netherlands,” it added.
The use of courts and other legal avenues to pursue climate litigation has grown rapidly over the past decade, with most lawsuits targeting governments.
Claimants argue that a relatively small number of major polluters bear a historic liability for losses caused by droughts, storms and other climate-fuelled extremes.
The ICJ opinion, requested by the United Nations, aimed to clarify international law as it relates to climate change.
In what was largely seen as a win for environmental campaigners, the judges said polluters could be liable for reparations to countries suffering from climate damage.
Greenpeace’s Ms Vellekoop had stressed the importance of the case in the run-up to the ruling.
“It should not matter where you were born: Everyone has the right to protection against floods, storms and extreme heat,” she added. AFP
