THE HAGUE, WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao’s position within the Kingdom’s climate policy is coming under examination just as the Netherlands prepares for another major phase in its long-term climate planning, potentially making the coming years important for determining how the Caribbean countries fit into future Dutch climate policy.
The Scientific Climate Council (WKR) says it will begin work in 2027 on its second advisory report for the Netherlands’ five-year Climate Plan.
The next Climate Plan is expected to be published in 2029 and will cover the period from 2030 through 2040. Preparation of the WKR advice is expected to take approximately two years.
At approximately the same time, the Council is launching a separate project examining climate change throughout the Kingdom, with Curaçao explicitly included.
That investigation addresses a longstanding unresolved issue: what responsibility does the Netherlands have for helping protect the autonomous Caribbean countries of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten against climate change?
The WKR says there is currently no consensus within Dutch politics on that question.
The Council has also criticized the present approach to the Caribbean islands, describing Dutch support as frequently temporary, fragmented and ad hoc.
According to the WKR, the lack of a clearly defined long-term role creates uncertainty about financing, responsibilities and tasks and can delay climate policy in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
The Council will therefore investigate what responsibilities and possibilities the Netherlands has to ensure climate resilience throughout the Kingdom and what forms of cooperation would be appropriate.
The timing is noteworthy.
The WKR is legally required to advise the Dutch government on its five-year Climate Plan. Its next advisory process begins in 2027, while the newly announced Kingdom investigation will separately examine a policy area in which the position of Curaçao and the other Caribbean countries remains unsettled.
The work program does not state that Curaçao will become part of the Netherlands’ Climate Plan for 2030–2040. The two processes are separate, and it would therefore be premature to conclude that Curaçao will be incorporated into Dutch domestic climate planning.
However, the simultaneous discussions mean that the Netherlands will be considering its own long-term climate strategy while also being asked to clarify what climate responsibilities it has toward the wider Kingdom.
That debate comes as scientific advisers increasingly emphasize the Caribbean’s vulnerability.
In a climate-and-health report published in May, the WKR and Dutch Health Council noted that many risks identified for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba also apply to the neighboring autonomous countries of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten.
The WKR’s new work program goes further by treating the constitutional and administrative relationship itself as an issue requiring examination.
For Curaçao, the importance of the upcoming advice may therefore extend beyond individual climate projects.
It could help determine whether climate resilience in the Caribbean continues to depend largely on temporary programs and individual agreements or develops into a clearer and more structural component of cooperation within the Kingdom.