Climate change in the Caribbean, Climate change in the Netherlands The Hague district court orders the Dutch government to create a legally binding plan to protect...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands () — A court on Wednesday ordered the Dutch government to draw up a plan to protect residents on the tiny Caribbean island of Bonaire from the effects of climate change — a sweeping victory for the islanders.

The Hague District Court, in a stunning rebuke of Dutch authorities, also ruled that the government discriminated against the island’s 20,000 inhabitants by not taking “timely and appropriate measures” to protect them from climate change before it’s too late.

“The island already suffers from flooding due to tropical storms and extreme rainfall, and according to several researchers, this will worsen in the coming years.

Even conservative forecasts predict that parts of the island will be underwater by 2050, so in 25 years,” Judge Jerzy Luiten told a packed courtroom.

The court also ordered the Dutch government to set binding targets within 18 months, laid down in law, to cut greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Climate agreement.

That pact, signed just over a decade ago, commits countries to keeping the rise in global temperatures by the year 2100 compared with preindustrial times “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and says they will “endeavor to limit” them even more, to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The case brought by eight Bonaire residents and backed by environmental group Greenpeace, sought to compel the government to better shield its citizens from the effects of increasing temperatures and rising sea levels and could set a precedent for similar legal challenges elsewhere.

“The judges heard us,” said one of the residents, Jackie Bernabela.

I am very happy,” she said in the courtroom as she wiped away tears.

The government can appeal the 90-page written decision.

Sophie Hermans, minister for climate policy and green growth, said: “Today, the court delivered a ruling of significance for the residents of Bonaire and the European Netherlands.” She said she would study it with other government departments before responding.

Greenpeace campaigner Eefje de Kroon welcomed the ruling and said that the organization would carefully monitor how the government implements the court’s orders.

The political importance lies in whether the issue moves from public comment into formal action, party response, court record, election authority notice or administrative decision.