[Many thanks to Ilan Kelman and the Society for Caribbean Studies for bringing this item to our attention.] Derren Chan (JURISTnews) reports that the Hague District Court declared yesterday that the Netherlands has failed to meet its international obligations on climate change. “The court ordered the government to adopt adequate measures to better protect Bonaire, a Dutch Caribbean island, within 18 months.” According to Greenpeace, this ruling marks the first time that a court has recognized the state’s failure to develop climate policies for a municipality as discrimination. [Ahem, ahem… it would be interesting to examine this development in the context of other islands of our beloved archipelago.]
The Hague District Court ruled on Wednesday that the Netherlands has failed to meet its international obligations on climate change. The court ordered the government to adopt adequate measures to better protect Bonaire, a Dutch Caribbean island, within 18 months.
The court concluded that the government had violated the right to private and family life of the residents of Bonaire under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
With regards to mitigation, the court found that even though the Dutch Climate Act sets a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, its 2023 amendment is silent on the intermediate emissions-reduction target. Furthermore, both parties agreed that there was less than a 5 percent likelihood that the Netherlands could reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent compared to 2019 by 2030. Combined with the failure to quantify its remaining emission allowance, the court concluded that the Netherlands’ mitigation measures did not satisfy its convention and treaty obligations.
The court also found that there has been a lack of a climate adaptation plan, sufficient scientific research, and financial resources for Bonaire. This drawback persists despite the government’s acknowledgment that Bonaire is particularly vulnerable to climate change. [. . .]
Apart from the right to private and family life, the court also held that the lack of adaptation measures for Bonaire, when comparable measures have already been in place for the European Netherlands, amounted to discrimination against residents of Bonaire. This, the court found, violated Article 14 of the ECHR and Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the convention. According to Greenpeace, this ruling marks the first time that a court has recognized the state’s failure to develop climate policies for a municipality as discrimination. [. . .]
For more information, see https://www.jurist.org/news/2026/01/netherlands-court-orders-government-to-implement-climate-measures-for-bonaire/ For court ruling, see https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/details?id=ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2026:1347
[Photo above by the Tourism Corporation Bonaire, as seen in https://edition.cnn.com/travel/bonaire-dutch-caribbean-moving-extended-stay]
[Many thanks to Ilan Kelman and the Society for Caribbean Studies for bringing this item to our attention.] Derren Chan (JURISTnews) reports that the Hague District Court declared yesterday that the Netherlands has failed to meet its international obligations on climate change. “The court ordered the government to adopt adequate measures to better protect Bonaire,
