Court orders Dutch to do more to mitigate climate change impact on Bonaire island

By Stephanie van den Berg

THE HAGUE, Jan 28 (Reuters) – A Dutch court ruled on Wednesday that the state must set binding greenhouse gas emissions targets to reach net zero by 2050 to protect the Dutch-Caribbean island of Bonaire, a decision hailed by climate activists as a breakthrough victory.

The court gave the Netherlands 18 months to set up a legally binding plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 as agreed in international treaties. 

Legal experts say the case, brought by environmental group Greenpeace on behalf of Bonaire residents, is one of the first to test climate obligations on a national level set in a landmark 2024 European climate ruling and last year’s influential World Court advisory opinion.

“It is an amazing victory for people from Bonaire, but for all of us, because the Dutch government needs to do more to stop the climate crisis and actually protect people who are already experiencing the effects,” Greenpeace legal expert Eefje de Kroon said.

Climate Minister Sophie Hermans said the government would carefully review the ruling, which could be appealed but the measures ordered by the court must meanwhile be carried out. 

IMPACT ON CROPS, ISLANDERS’ HEALTH

In hearings last October, Bonaire residents told The Hague district court that climate change had made life on the island unbearably hot and dry and this had affected crops and the health of islanders. 

Bonaire, in the southern Caribbean, is a former Dutch colony and became a special Dutch municipality in 2010. It has around 20,000 inhabitants who are Dutch citizens.

The court ruled that Dutch national climate plans do not sufficiently address problems in the Dutch Caribbean, and the Netherlands would now need to make a separate plan for how to mitigate the effects of climate change and rising sea levels on Bonaire.

The court added that the Netherlands had violated the human rights of the citizens of Bonaire and discriminated against them by not making separate climate plans for the island.

“The state has not taken sufficient and timely measures to protect the inhabitants of Bonaire from the negative effects of climate change,” presiding Judge Jerzy Luiten said. 

Bonaire resident Jackie Bernabela, who was at the court for the ruling, wiped tears from her eyes after the verdict. “We are no longer second-class citizens. (We have) equality. I am very happy,” she told reporters. 

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Mark Heinrich)