A group of residents, together with Greenpeace Netherlands, has brought the case. According to the court, the Dutch state has discriminated against the islanders by not acting quickly enough or in the right way.
The government must now come up with a plan for how to protect the island. The ruling could serve as a guide for similar cases testing guilt and responsibility in climate matters, says Björn-Ola Linnér, a professor of international climate policy at Linköping University.
"It's really exciting to see that taking it to court is a climate policy tool that has really worked," he says.
The former colony of Bonaire, located in the Caribbean, has the status of a special municipality within the Netherlands. Bonaire belonged to the autonomous province of the Netherlands Antilles before its dissolution in 2010.
Bonaire, like other islands, is threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change, with parts of the island at risk of being swallowed by the sea before the end of the century. In addition, coral reefs around the island are threatened, reefs that attract tourists who account for a significant part of the island's income.
