Seminar with Jan van de Venis, owner, JustLaw, Senior Associate, Waterlex and acting Dutch Ombudsperson for Future Generations.
Danish Institute for Human Rights
Nordskov Room, Friday 27 May, 13:00-14:00.
The seminar
The aim of this seminar is to inspire our thinking on Human Rights and Future Generations. Jan will update us on the most recent global development in this field: formalised institutions with a mandate to safeguard these rights, court cases and case law on the (human) rights of future generations and how human rights (of present and future generations) are being used in climate litigation and create new legal principles (as illustrated by the Dutch Climate Case win).
He really looks forward to also getting a lively discussion going, which will include feedback from us on how we see DIHR and other NHRIs take on more work in this area. SDG 16 (inclusive, effective and accountable institutions), he says, should be able to support us on that. In and outside Denmark.
The speaker
Jan van de Venis is owner of law firm JustLaw, Corporate Law and Human Rights and Senior Associate / Director Legal Desk of the Swiss NGO WaterLex, and as such accountable for and co-trainer of the NHRI Water Initiative of which DIHR is a core partner (http://www.humanrights.dk/news/new-manual-right-water-available).
Jan’s practice particularly concentrates on human rights and sustainable development issues, including from a human rights and business perspective.
Jan is President of the board of NGOs Stand Up For Your Rights and Grrrowd and board member of other NGOs. He was a member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Governance and Remuneration G4 Working Group and for over a decade has been a special guest lecturer on Human Rights for universities and UN bodies worldwide, including UNESCO-IHE and UNITAR.
Previously, Jan worked as in-house lawyer and legal counsel at Greenpeace International and before that as senior associate at commercial law firms. He is the author of several publications on human rights law and sustainable development (climate change, environment, etc.) and CSR and is a popular speaker on these subjects.
Last but not least for this session: Jan is also currently involved as advisor to multiple campaigns and governmental initiatives on human rights and a healthy environment and institutionalising the rights of future generations. He has been a member of the ‘Roundtable for Institutions for a Sustainable Future’ for many years now, as such advised the Welsh government on their brand new institution “Future Generations Commissioner for Wales” and is the chair of the Dutch high-level think-tank Worldconnectors working group Future Generations and ‘acting’ Dutch Ombudsperson for Future Generations.