On January 11, 2024, Greenpeace Netherlands and eight Dutch citizens of the island of Bonaire sued the Dutch State concerning insufficient climate adaptation and mitigation measures to protect the residents of Bonaire from the impacts of climate change. Bonaire is a Caribbean island and a special municipality of the Netherlands. The claim was brought following a warning letter sent in 2023, in which the plaintiffs requested consultations with Dutch ministries regarding stronger climate adaptation policies and increased resources for the island.  

Greenpeace argued that the Dutch State failed to take adequate mitigation and adaptation measures to protect the human rights of Bonaire’s inhabitants, in violation of its obligations under international and domestic law. The claim relied on Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, alleging an unlawful act due to insufficient climate action. The plaintiffs invoked the right to life and the right to respect for private and family life under Articles 2 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the prohibition of discrimination under Article 14 ECHR, the right to culture under Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and procedural rights under the Aarhus Convention. They also referred to the Netherlands’ climate obligations under the Paris Agreement.

The plaintiffs emphasized that Bonaire faces heightened vulnerability to climate change, including increased heat stress, sea level rise, water scarcity, ecosystem degradation, and associated health impacts. They argued that Bonaire’s residents are treated differently from residents of the European Netherlands without adequate justification, noting that large-scale and long-term adaptation planning and investment exist in the European Netherlands but not in Bonaire. The claim also highlighted structural inequalities, including high poverty levels on the island, and argued that these factors require heightened state attention under principles of equality and non-discrimination.

With respect to mitigation, Greenpeace relied on the reasoning developed by the Dutch Supreme Court in Urgenda Foundation v. The Netherlands, arguing that Articles 2 and 8 ECHR impose positive obligations on the State to contribute its fair share to preventing dangerous climate change. The plaintiffs asserted that the Netherlands’ current mitigation trajectory was insufficient and inconsistent with its human rights obligations. They extended this reasoning to adaptation, arguing that due diligence requires timely and effective adaptation measures tailored to the specific risks faced by Bonaire’s population, including impacts on health, housing, livelihoods, and cultural life.

The plaintiffs extend their legal reasoning on mitigation also to adaptation. They note that there is ‘widespread consensus’ in international climate policy and law, as well as amongst human rights bodies, that there is a need to ‘rapidly accelerate’ the implementation of adaptation measures. Plaintiffs argue that the State has a legal obligation to take all appropriate measures that may be reasonably necessary, in a timely and consistent manner. This obligation is based on due diligence, and must take into account the special needs and disproportionate vulnerability of the inhabitants of Bonaire, and the complex historical and political context of the islands. They also point to other successful climate litigation on adaptation in this regard, such as the Torres Straight Islanders case at the UN Human Rights Committee.

On September 25, 2024, the District Court of The Hague issued an interim judgment on admissibility. The court found Greenpeace Netherlands admissible under Article 3:305a of the Civil Code as a representative organization acting in the collective interest. The individual claims brought by eight residents of Bonaire were declared inadmissible, as Greenpeace’s claim already encompassed their interests and the individuals had not demonstrated that they were personally and directly affected in a manner justifying separate claims.

On January 29, 2026, the District Court of The Hague issued its final judgment on the merits. The court held that the Dutch State had failed to take sufficient climate mitigation and adaptation measures to protect the residents of Bonaire and that this failure violated Articles 8 and 14 ECHR. The court found that Bonaire’s inhabitants face disproportionate climate risks, including serious risks to health and well-being, and that the State had not adequately justified treating Bonaire differently from the European Netherlands in its climate policies.

The court ordered the Dutch State, within 18 months, to incorporate binding interim greenhouse gas reduction targets into national legislation covering the entire economy. The court also ordered the State to ensure that, by 2030, a detailed and implemented climate adaptation plan is in place for Bonaire to increase the island’s resilience to climate impacts.

The decision is notable for its reliance on human rights law, its emphasis on equality and non-discrimination within a state’s own territory, and its engagement with international and regional climate jurisprudence. It also represents a significant development in climate litigation concerning state obligations to protect particularly vulnerable territories from the impacts of climate change.



Greenpeace Netherlands and 8 citizens of Bonaire v. The Netherlands

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Greenpeace Netherlands and 8 citizens of Bonaire v. The Netherlands - complaint

Filed

Netherlands

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

A commitment to balance GHG emissions with removal by a certain point in time, effectively reducing the net emissions to zero

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Coastal zone and marine-related actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience to climate change

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Hot temperature extremes are daily maximum temperatures  that were exceeded on average once in a decade or once in 50 years, and includes heatwaves.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Activities that provide lodging, food, and entertainment services to guests, including hotels, restaurants, and resorts.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Greenpeace Netherlands and 8 citizens of Bonaire v. The Netherlands - complaint

Target

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance