Dr Marlies Hesselman serves as advisor to report of the National Human Rights Institute

Marlies Hesselman, assistant professor of international law at our Faculty, acted as a consultant for the National Human Rights Institute on their first report on the Dutch, regional and international legal framework for the 'right to a healthy environment' in the Netherlands. The report was published on 20 June.

Environmental challenges

In the short and long term, the Dutch government faces complex challenges when it comes to our environment. Much must be done, among other things, to reduce the pollution of our air, soil and water quality and to protect people in European and Caribbean Dutch territory from the effects of climate change.

Legal framework

On June 20, the National Human Rights Institute published a report on the legal framework that supports and encourages the Dutch government to meet the its obligations under international and European human rights treaties. The goal was to provide government and politicians with insights into what the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment means and what obligations flow from it.

The report also responds to the Netherlands' recent recognition of the international right to a healthy environment in United Nations Resolution 76/300. The Institute recommends that a binding right to a healthy environment be included in Dutch legislation.

Quoted several times

Hesselman not only provided advice for the drafting of the report based on her expertise regarding human rights and climate change; the report also cites several of her publications on human rights, climate change and environment.. For example, her article ‘Climate change as a global health threat in international climate law and human rights law’, part of the book Global Health Law Disrupted, is cited to support findings on the impacts of of climate change on various human rights of current and future generations, including the right to health.

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This article was published by the Faculty of Law.