Court orders Dutch to do more to mitigate climate change impact on BonaireTHE HAGUE, (Reuters) – A Dutch court ruled today that the state must set binding greenhouse gas emissions targets to reach net zero by 2050 to protect the Dutch-Caribbean island of Bonaire, a decision hailed by climate activists as a breakthrough victory. In hearings last October, Bonaire residents told The Hague district court that climate change had made life on the island unbearably hot and dry and this had affected crops and the health of islanders. Bonaire, in the southern Caribbean, is a former Dutch colony and became a special Dutch municipality in 2010. The court ruled that Dutch national climate plans do not sufficiently address problems in the Dutch Caribbean, and the Netherlands would now need to make a separate plan for how to mitigate the effects of climate change and rising sea levels on Bonaire. “The state has not taken sufficient and timely measures to protect the inhabitants of Bonaire from the negative effects of climate change,” presiding Judge Jerzy Luiten said.