A new climate lawsuit is making headlines: Greenpeace and residents of Bonaire argue that the Netherlands must act faster on climate change. The lawsuit, whose preparations began back in 2022, relies on research conducted by a team of researchers from the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM) at VU Amsterdam. The study concluded that residents of Bonaire are at great risk due to the consequences of climate change. Mobilized for the lawsuit, their most ambitious demand is for the country to achieve net-zero emissions already by 2030. The case is innovative because it is built as a ladder of claims rather than a single all-or-nothing demand.
What does that mean?
Instead of asking the court to either fully agree or reject their case, the plaintiffs present a range of claims. At the top of the ladder is the call for climate neutrality by 2030. At the bottom, they simply ask the court to confirm that the State must at least meet its own statutory climate targets – targets it is currently not on track to achieve. In between are intermediate steps, such as requiring the State to calculate a national carbon budget, and to adopt less steep, though still ambitious, reduction pathways.
Adaptation for Bonaire
Another innovative aspect of the case is its adaptation dimension. Greenpeace argues that the Dutch State provides far less protection against climate risks in the Caribbean Netherlands than in the European part of the country. Bonaire faces severe threats: coral bleaching due to warming seas, loss of tourism income, and rising sea levels that endanger cultural heritage such as historic slave huts. Plaintiffs demand risk assessments, proper budgeting, and concrete measures like restoring mangroves as natural coastal defenses.
Legal basis
Greenpeace grounds its case in a broad legal framework: human rights, anti-discrimination norms, international climate law, and national liability rules. This multi-pronged and layered approach invites the court to establish a legal baseline – a minimum threshold the State must not fall below.
What’s next?
A decision on the ruling is expected on 28 January 2026. A decision in favor of the plaintiffs could accelerate national climate policy and strengthen the State’s duty to protect vulnerable regions like Bonaire. More broadly, the case acts as a crucial backstop: at a time when the climate crisis is escalating and sustainability ambitions are under pressure, it enables judicial review of the Netherlands’ retreat from its own commitments.
