AMSTERDAM--Dutch Caribbean young people and members of the diaspora used a major climate march in Amsterdam to demand stronger and more equal protection for the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom, according to reporting by Caribisch Netwerk/NTR.
The September 12 demonstration drew more than 40,000 participants and included a dedicated Caribbean bloc carrying flags from St. Maarten, Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and other islands. Participants argued that Caribbean communities are already confronting the effects of climate change while having less influence over Dutch climate policy and fewer resources available for adaptation.
The Caribbean contingent argued that the islands are already confronting rising temperatures, drought, extreme weather, pressure on agriculture, coral deterioration and sea-level rise, while having considerably less influence over Dutch climate policy than residents in Europe.
Greenpeace Netherlands helped facilitate the Caribbean bloc. Churmer Bomba, a Bonairean community organizer with Greenpeace and one of the organizers, said the central principle is that where a Dutch citizen lives should not determine the level of protection that person receives from the consequences of climate change.
Greenpeace similarly listed protection for residents throughout the Netherlands, including the Caribbean, among the demands of the September 12 march. The organization said more than 40,000 people participated and called for accelerated movement away from fossil fuels, greater investment in local renewable energy and stronger protection for communities affected by climate change.
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Photos are from Tengbeh Kamara / Greenpeace
Caribbean representation brought to the forefront
For the Caribbean participants, visibility was itself an important part of the demonstration.
Kjelld Kroon, one of eight plaintiffs in the Bonaire climate case, said Caribbean Dutch citizens needed to make themselves visible within the wider Dutch climate movement. He and other participants argued that climate discussions in the Netherlands too often focus on the European part of the country while the islands face their own immediate environmental threats.
Glenpherd Martinus, a Dutch citizen from the Caribbean diaspora who also participated in the march, argued that the Netherlands has extensive experience in water management but has not shown the same urgency in addressing climate threats facing its Caribbean citizens.
The calls come against the backdrop of a major court ruling earlier this year concerning Bonaire.
On January 28, 2026, the District Court of The Hague ruled that the Dutch State had not done enough to protect Bonaire residents from climate change and had treated them differently from residents of the European Netherlands without sufficient justification. The court found violations of rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.
The court ordered the State to establish binding interim greenhouse-gas reduction targets for the entire Dutch economy within 18 months. It also ordered the State to develop a climate adaptation plan for Bonaire that can be implemented by 2030.
The Dutch State has appealed the ruling. Separately, the State has sought suspension of part of the judgment requiring immediate work on the emissions targets while the appeal proceeds. Greenpeace and the Bonaire plaintiffs are opposing that request.
The judgment specifically concerns Bonaire, and does not itself establish climate obligations for St. Maarten, Aruba or Curaçao. However, the Amsterdam march placed the wider Caribbean part of the Kingdom into the climate discussion, with island flags and diaspora participants using the event to raise broader questions about vulnerability, funding and the treatment of Caribbean communities.
Budget decisions also in focus
The timing of the march was deliberate, coming three days before the Dutch Government presented its 2027 budget.
Climate spending for the Caribbean Netherlands remains part of that budget discussion. Dutch budget documents state that the Government recognizes the urgency of climate measures for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba and will continue supporting island climate plans with financing, expertise and technical knowledge.
The 2027 budget also includes continued implementation of the Nature and Environmental Policy Plan for the Caribbean Netherlands, with €10 million budgeted for its second phase. That work focuses on ecosystem restoration, implementation capacity and climate-adaptive measures.
Separately, €15.3 million from a previously announced €30 million allocation is being directed in 2027 toward energy measures in the Caribbean Netherlands. That includes support for electricity-grid costs and renewable-energy investments involving solar generation and battery storage on Saba and St. Eustatius.
For St. Maarten, Aruba and Curaçao, the financial and policy relationship with the Netherlands is structured differently because the three are autonomous countries within the Kingdom rather than public bodies of the Netherlands. The Caribbean march nevertheless sought to place the climate vulnerability of the wider region within the Dutch national conversation.
Climate, culture and food security
Participants also connected climate change to Caribbean culture and food production.
Bomba pointed to traditional harvest celebrations and warned that prolonged heat and drought could increasingly affect the ability of islands to grow crops associated with their cultural traditions. The concern reflects a wider regional challenge in which climate resilience is becoming linked not only to infrastructure and coastal protection, but also to agriculture, food security and cultural preservation.
The Hague court also addressed culture in its Bonaire ruling, recognizing that climate impacts can affect communities, heritage and ways of life connected to the land.
For the Caribbean participants in Amsterdam, the message was that climate policy should recognize those differences while providing comparable levels of protection.
Their appearance at the march added a Caribbean dimension to a national demonstration otherwise centered largely on Dutch energy, emissions and fossil-fuel policy, putting the islands visibly into a discussion over how the Kingdom responds to a changing climate.
Source: This article is based in part on reporting by Caribisch Netwerk/NTR, published September 16, 2026, under the title “Caribische jongeren eisen ook bescherming bij de Klimaatmars.” Photos are from Tengbeh Kamara / Greenpeace
