Eight residents of the Dutch-Caribbean island of Bonaire are taking the Netherlands to court for not doing enough to protect them from the climate crisis.

The formal legal challenge was filed alongside Greenpeace Netherlands in the Hague on Thursday (12 January). It demands that the government takes “concrete measures” to protect Bonaire from the consequences of climate change and steps up its plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Bonaire is in the southern Caribbean around 8,000 kilometres from Amsterdam and the Netherlands has been present on the island for hundreds of years. It has been a special Dutch municipality since 2010 and has around 20,000 inhabitants who are Dutch citizens.

“The Caribbean Netherlands has been forgotten for too long,” says Danique Martis, a social worker and one of the plaintiffs in the case.

“There are plans in place to protect the European Netherlands against sea-level rise and other consequences of the climate crisis, but for Bonaire, this is not yet the case.”

‘They have no choice but to act’

Though the Netherlands is known for its climate adaptation measures, used to protect the low-lying nation from the North Sea, the plaintiffs claim there is a lack of action from the Dutch government to ensure their island remains safe and habitable in the future.

“It saddens me to see how, despite knowing their responsibility, the Dutch government has chosen to push our right to safety aside. For this reason, we are going to court, so they have no choice but to act,” Martis adds.

The lawsuit has two main requests. The first is that the Dutch government makes plans and takes “concrete measures” to protect Bonaire from the consequences of climate change.

The second is that the Netherlands must tighten its climate goals, contributing its “fair share” to keep global warming below 1.5C by reaching net zero 10 years earlier than the current target of 2050. The country is one of Europe’s biggest emitters in proportion to its population.

The Dutch government must take measures to protect the islanders’ human rights, the group argues – specifically their right to life and to respect private and family life.

“It shouldn’t matter whether you live on Bonaire, on Ameland or in Valkenburg. It’s the Dutch government’s duty to protect us from the consequences of the climate crisis,” Andy Palmen, executive director of Greenpeace Netherlands, told a press conference on Thursday.

Bonaire faces rising sea levels and flooding

“Bonaire is being hit hard by rising sea levels, heat waves and the deterioration of its coral reefs,” Plamen added.

A study by the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, commissioned by Greenpeace, shows that the daily lives of Bonaire’s residents are already being impacted by climate change.

It found that rising sea levels could permanently submerge some parts of the island by 2050 – a threat being made worse by the loss of its coral reefs which protect it from flooding.

These reefs are also popular dive sites and their degradation will impact tourism which is a major source of income for islanders. Researchers concluded that it was highly likely climate change would have a major impact on health, causing more illnesses and deaths on Bonaire.

“Climate change is happening right now on Bonaire,” says another of the plaintiffs, programme creator Kjelld Kroon.

“It’s getting increasingly hot and the rain showers are more frequent and more extreme. These downpours are causing flooding and inundating many houses. Including my mother’s house.”

The study’s authors say that very little research has been done into the impacts of the climate emergency on Bonaire, and the two other Dutch-Caribbean islands of Saba and St Eustatius.

Building on a legal precedent

The number of climate cases against governments and large companies has soared over the last few years.

The Dutch government lost a landmark case in 2019 when the Supreme Court ruled that the government had explicit duties to protect its citizens’ human rights in the face of climate change. It ordered the country to reduce emissions by at least 25 per cent by the end of 2020 compared with 1990 levels.

The Bonaire legal case aims to build on this ruling to show that the Netherlands has a legal duty to protect the rights of citizens across all of its territories.