THE HAGUE – A court in The Hague has ruled that the Dutch state is violating the human rights of the residents of Bonaire by failing to adequately protect the island against the consequences of climate change. According to the judgment, the Netherlands is acting unlawfully toward Bonaire, which as a Caribbean part of the Kingdom is particularly vulnerable to climate-related risks.
The case was brought by Greenpeace on behalf of residents of Bonaire. They argued that the Netherlands is failing to meet its international climate obligations and is offering less protection to Bonaire than to European Netherlands. The court largely agreed with that assessment.
The judges concluded that there is no violation of the right to life, but that the state is in breach of the right to respect for private life, health and living environment, as enshrined in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In its ruling, the court noted that Dutch climate legislation does not include a binding emissions reduction target for 2030 that aligns with international agreements aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The court also criticized the lack of transparency regarding how much greenhouse gas the Netherlands is still allowed to emit. Major sources of emissions, such as aviation and shipping, are not fully included in current calculations. Based on the existing policy framework, the court considers the likelihood that the Netherlands will meet its own climate targets to be very low.
For Bonaire specifically, the absence of a concrete and coherent climate adaptation plan weighed heavily in the judgment. The court emphasized that it has been known for decades that small Caribbean islands are affected earlier and more severely by climate change. Risks such as extreme heat, flooding from heavy rainfall and the long-term threat of parts of the island becoming submerged were explicitly mentioned. By failing to act, the state has breached its duty of care toward Bonaire’s residents, the court ruled.
The judges further found that the Netherlands has treated Bonaire unequally. Climate policy measures for the island were introduced later and less systematically than those for European Netherlands, despite Bonaire’s greater vulnerability. This constitutes a violation of the prohibition on discrimination under the human rights convention.
The court has ordered the Dutch state to establish binding climate targets for the entire Dutch economy within eighteen months, including clear interim goals through to 2050 and a transparent emissions budget. In addition, a comprehensive adaptation plan must be drawn up in which Bonaire is explicitly included and which must be implemented by 2030 at the latest. The court stressed that these orders remain in force even if the state decides to appeal the ruling.
