ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AAN) — A group of young leaders from Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten has formally requested Dutch Caribbean youth IPKO participation during the upcoming Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO) meeting, scheduled to take place in Aruba at the end of February 2026.
According to information received by DIARIO, the youth group sent an urgent letter to the Presidents of Parliament of all three countries—Marlon Sneek (Aruba), Fergino Brownbill (Curaçao), and Sarah Wescot-Williams (St. Maarten). The request was also addressed to Edgard Vrolijk, President of the Standing Committee for Kingdom Relations in Aruba, as well as to the parliamentary clerks of all three countries.
The young representatives are requesting inclusion on the IPKO agenda and five to ten minutes to deliver a statement during the meeting. The letter was signed by Oriana Wouters (Aruba), Terence Ching (Curaçao), and Riddi Samtani (St. Maarten).
In their message, the group emphasized that climate change is a shared responsibility across the Kingdom of the Netherlands and warned that the climate crisis threatens the fundamental rights of residents in the Dutch Caribbean. While the Netherlands benefits from structural protections such as the Delta Programme and long-term financial frameworks, the Caribbean countries lack comparable guarantees.
The group also referenced the Bonaire climate lawsuit, brought by eight residents with the support of Greenpeace, noting that the upcoming ruling scheduled for January 28 could have significant implications for the entire Kingdom. They stressed that meaningful climate adaptation plans must be developed in close collaboration with local communities, citing this as an important precedent under Article 43 of the Kingdom Charter.
The youth representatives further highlighted the presence of local expertise and scientific knowledge within the Dutch Caribbean, pointing to initiatives such as the “Feeling Hot Tool” as evidence that the islands possess the capacity to address climate challenges when supported by structural cooperation within the Kingdom, as outlined in Article 36 of the Charter.
The formal requests made to Parliament include:
-
Adding climate adaptation and recent climate jurisprudence as a permanent agenda item for the IPKO meeting on February 17, 2026; and
-
Allowing Oriana Wouters to deliver a 5–10 minute address at the opening of that agenda item to present a local perspective.
The group expressed confidence that IPKO is the appropriate platform for discussing these Kingdom-wide challenges and is now awaiting a formal response from the parliamentary leadership.
