Greenpeace has been given the green light to take the Dutch government to court over the lack of action to protect the Caribbean island of Bonaire from rising sea levels.

In January eight people from the former Dutch colony joined forces with 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 at the time.

Now a court in The Hague has ruled that the case does have merit and that Greenpeace can act in Bonaire’s interests. The eight residents are not allowed to participate because, according to the judge, they could not properly substantiate why they had “their own direct interest” in the case.

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.