Dutch Court Mandates Greenhouse Gas Targets for Bonaire

A Dutch court orders the state to set binding greenhouse gas targets to protect Bonaire, part of the Dutch Caribbean. The decision, prompted by Greenpeace's lawsuit, requires the Netherlands to create a detailed emission reduction plan. This ruling is seen as a landmark victory in enforcing national climate obligations.

A Dutch court has mandated that the Netherlands establish binding greenhouse gas emission targets to achieve net zero by 2050, a move designed to protect the Dutch-Caribbean island of Bonaire. This decision is celebrated by climate activists as a groundbreaking triumph in the fight against climate change.

The lawsuit, spearheaded by Greenpeace on behalf of Bonaire residents, is rooted in a landmark 2024 European climate ruling and an influential World Court advisory opinion from the previous year. Legal experts consider this case a pivotal test of national climate obligations.

Bonaire's residents have voiced concerns about unbearable heat and dryness affecting their crops and health, prompting the court to recognize the Dutch government's insufficient efforts in addressing climate change impacts on the island. The court affirmed that separate climate plans are necessary for Bonaire, denouncing previous neglect as a violation of the islanders' human rights.

(With inputs from agencies.)