Caribbean: Court judgement - Netherlands must protect Bonaire from sinking
Christian Tiedt
· 29.01.2026
The judgement in The Hague was clear: the Dutch state has violated the rights of the inhabitants of the Caribbean island of Bonaire by failing to set binding climate protection targets. The measures taken to date to at least mitigate the consequences of climate change are too little too late. The government must now present a corresponding concept within 18 months - not just for Bonaire, but for the whole of the Netherlands.
Complaint by residents of Bonaire
The lawsuit was brought by residents of the island together with the environmental organisation Greenpeace. Bonaire is part of the archipelago in the south-east of the Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela, which was known as the Netherlands Antilles until 2010 and is also popular with sailors. The archipelago also includes Aruba and Curaçao, hence the colloquial name ABC Islands. Today, they have the (largely autonomous) status of a special municipality within the Netherlands.
In contrast to its two neighbouring islands, however, Bonaire is significantly lower and shallower - and in comparison to the Netherlands itself, it is not protected by dikes, which are already being adapted to the expected changes due to rising sea levels. In the absence of the protection concept for the entire country that has now been called for by the court, no safety measures have been taken on Bonaire to date.
Flooding, heat and severe storms
According to current forecasts, the island could lose around a fifth of its surface area to the sea by the end of the century. It is also struggling with extreme heat, which has been proven to cause health problems for the population. The risk of severe tropical storms is also increasing.
As a result, the court in The Hague ruled that Bonaire was already more affected than the rest of the Netherlands and that the state had failed to fulfil its duty of care towards its residents. This is now set to change.
