Eight people from the former Dutch colony of Bonaire in the Caribbean have joined forces with environmental organisation Greenpeace to sue the Dutch government for failing to protect them against climate change.

Bonaire is still part of the Netherlands and has the position of an independent local authority area.

“It shouldn’t matter whether you live on Bonaire, on Ameland or in Valkenburg. It’s the Dutch government’s duty to protect all of us from the consequences of the climate crisis,” said Greenpeace Nederland director Andy Palmen.

“Bonaire is being hit hard by rising sea levels, heat waves and the deterioration of its coral reefs. The government must reduce global warming as much as possible, and right now it’s failing to do so.”

The government did say last November that Bonaire and the two other special local authority areas, Saba and Sint Eustatius, would get their own climate plan this year. But Greenpeace and the locals say “urgent action” is needed and the measures which have been taken to date are “far from adequate”.

Researchers at Amsterdam’s VU university said earlier that Bonaire is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Part of the island will disappear as sea levels rise and the coral reef, which protects the island against flooding, may also be destroyed.