Jan 28, 2026, 4:27 p.mJan 28, 2026, 4:27 p.m
The Netherlands has suffered a serious defeat in a climate process. According to the ruling, the state did not adequately protect the residents of its Caribbean island of Bonaire from the consequences of climate change.
The Caribbean island of Bonaire.Image: keystone
The judges in The Hague upheld a lawsuit brought by the environmental organization Greenpeace. This had sued the state on behalf of the island’s residents and demanded climate protection for the island.
According to the ruling, the Netherlands must now take adequate measures to protect the Caribbean island and its residents by 2030. According to experts, they can cost a lot of money.
The state must protect citizens
The judges specifically referred to a 2024 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that a state is obliged to protect the life and health of its citizens. The Netherlands did not do this and thus violated the ban on discrimination. According to the judgment, the residents of Bonaire were treated differently than the Dutch on mainland Europe.
Bonaire belongs to the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean and is a special municipality of the Netherlands. The island has around 25,000 inhabitants.
Coral reefs are dying
The judges pointed out that the consequences of climate change for small islands like Bonaire have been known for 30 years. Sea levels are rising and threatening fisheries, agriculture and nature. Coral reefs are dying, increasing heat is causing tourism to decline and poverty is increasing.
In the lawsuit, Greenpeace also demanded that the Netherlands be committed to stricter climate protection targets. The court rejected that. But the Netherlands has been obliged to do more to reduce emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases.
Already earlier climate judgments
It is not the first defeat of the Dutch state in a climate process. In 2018, the appeal court ruled in favor of the environmental organization Urgenda and obliged the country to reduce its CO2 emissions by at least a quarter by 2020. (hkl/sda/dpa)