WILLEMSTAD - Curaçao must adhere to World Health Organization (WHO) standards regarding air quality. This was ruled by the judge on Tuesday in summary proceedings brought by the Clean Air Foundation and 39 citizens against the government.
The case revolved around the question of which air quality standards the government should apply. This concerned the maximum values for sulfur dioxide and particulate matter downwind of the refinery near Kas Chikitu. The judge concluded that the ministerial regulation introduced in 2020 is not an alternative to the WHO standards as intended in an earlier judgment.
According to the judge, the regulation is flawed as a legal basis and offers insufficient guarantees. The government must therefore adhere to WHO standards, or come up with a sound alternative. The plaintiffs' other claims, including the demand to order the government to set regulatory standards for greenhouse gases, were dismissed.