US EditionDutch court to rule on climate change case brought by Caribbean islanders
The Hague District Court ruled the Dutch government discriminated against Bonaire's 20,000 residents by failing to take timely climate measures and ordered binding emissions targets.
- On Wednesday, the Hague District Court will decide whether the Netherlands must do more to protect Bonaire, after 8 residents backed by Greenpeace sued for concrete measures.
- During court hearings last year, some of Bonaire's 27,000 residents said climate change effects have made life 'unbearable' and Amsterdam's Vrije Universiteit warned the sea could swallow a fifth of the island by century's end.
- Plaintiffs are seeking a Bonaire protection plan by April 2027 and CO2 reduction to zero by 2040, arguing major polluters bear historic liability as The Hague District Court set precedent in Urgenda.
- Government lawyers argue the Netherlands' national administration is pursuing greenhouse gas reductions, while climate planning for Bonaire remains an "autonomous task" of local authorities.
- The Netherlands is famed for its flood defenses, but campaigners argue these do not cover overseas territory Bonaire, while Greenpeace calls Wednesday's case a potential global legal precedent after the ICJ ruling.
75 Articles
75 Articles
Recognizing that the inhabitants of the Caribbean island were "treated differently for no valid reason", a Dutch court ordered the state, on Wednesday 28 January, to act against rising waters and global warming. "A precedent of global importance," Greenpeace says.
Dutch government ordered to protect residents on Caribbean island of Bonaire from climate change
A court has ordered the Dutch government to draw up a plan to protect residents on the tiny Caribbean island of Bonaire from the devastating effects of climate change — a sweeping victory for the islanders.
"The Dutch government is not doing enough to protect Bonaire's inhabitants from climate change and its consequences," said Jerzy Luiten, judge of The Hague Court.
A court has committed the Dutch government to more climate protection on Bonaire. It has disadvantaged the inhabitants of the Caribbean island vis-à-vis the mainland.
The Netherlands has so far failed to adequately protect the inhabitants of the Caribbean island of Bonaire, which has had the status of a municipality since 2010, from the consequences of climate change, a court in The Hague ruled today, granting a lawsuit brought by Greenpeace, which sued the country on behalf of the islanders for violating its climate obligations. The organization welcomed the ruling as a landmark.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 42% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
