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Curriculum vitae (English)

In addition to his academic position at the University of Amsterdam, Marc Pallemaerts is also Senior Fellow and Head of the Environmental Governance Research Programme at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), an independent non-profit research institute with offices in Brussels and London, since 2005. Moreover he also teaches international and European environmental law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). He serves as vice-chair of the Facilitative Branch of the Kyoto Protocol Compliance Committee and was appointed a member of the Management Board of the European Chemicals Agency in 2007. He previously worked as a senior research fellow at the Institute for European Studies of the VUB (from 2003 to 2005), and served as president of the Belgian Association for Environmental Law (from 1997 to 2003).

Pallemaerts' academic activities draw on extensive practical experience in the area of national, European and international environmental policy and law. From 1992 to 2003 he worked as a legal and policy advisor in the Office of the Flemish Minister of the Environment, subsequently, in the Office of  the Federal State Secretary for the Environment, and, most recently, as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Federal State Secretary for Energy and Sustainable Development. In his capacity as a policy advisor, he acted as a representative of both the Flemish and Belgian governments, and also of the Belgian Presidency of the European Union, in various international and European environmental negotiations, including the multilateral climate change negotiations in the framework of the United Nations. Pallemaerts was also chairman of the board of Greenpeace Belgium from 1985 to 1992.   

Research

Marc Pallemaerts studied law and political science at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Harvard Law School. He obtained his PhD from the VUB in 1999 with a dissertation entitled Production, toxics and transnational law: an inquiry into the effectiveness of international and European Community environmental law. His research addresses various areas of European and international environmental law, and their implementation in national law. He has published over 50 articles in national and international journals and authored or edited a dozen books on such diverse topics as transboundary air and water pollution, climate change, the regulation of international trade in hazardous chemicals, general principles of international environmental law, the emergence of the concept of sustainable development in international and European legal discourse, the enforcement and effectiveness of national, European and international environmental law, the links between human rights and environmental protection, and the procedural environmental rights of citizens and civil society organisations. In 2008, he was appointed Professor of European environmental law at the University of Amsterdam. In addition to his teaching and research at ACELS, Professor Pallemaerts also teaches European and international environmental law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, and is a Senior Fellow of the Institute for European Environmental Policy, a non-profit independent research institute, where he heads the Environmental Governance Research Programme.

Curriculum vitae

Marc Pallemaerts studeerde rechten en politieke wetenschappen aan de Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) en Harvard Law School. Hij promoveerde in 1999 aan de VUB op een dissertatie met de titel Production, toxics and transnational law: an inquiry into the effectiveness of international and European Community environmental law. Zijn wetenschappelijk onderzoek heeft betrekking op diverse domeinen van het Europees en internationaal milieurecht en hun implementatie in het nationale recht. Zo heeft hij in nationale en internationale tijdschriften meer dan 50 artikelen gepubliceerd over zeer uiteenlopende onderwerpen als grensoverschrijdende lucht- en waterverontreiniging, klimaatverandering, regulering van internationale handel in gevaarlijke stoffen, beginselen van internationaal milieurecht, de opkomst van het begrip duurzame ontwikkeling in het internationaal en Europees juridisch discours, handhaving en effectiviteit van nationaal, Europees en internationaal milieurecht, het verband tussen mensenrechten en milieubescherming en de procedurele milieurechten van burgers en verenigingen. Hij is auteur van het boek Toxics and Transnational Law: International and European Regulation of Toxic Substances as Legal Symbolism (Hart, Oxford, 2003) en editor of mede-editor van een zestal verzamelwerken, waaronder laatst The EU and Sustainable Development: Internaland External Dimensions (VUB Brussels University Press, Brussel, 2006).

Pallemaerts is sinds 2005 senior fellow en hoofd van het onderzoeksprogramma "Environmental Governance" op het Institute for European Environmental Policy in Brussel/Londen. Daarnaast is hij deeltijds docent internationaal en Europees milieurecht aan de Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Eerder was hij senior research fellow op het Institute for European Studies van de VUB (2003-2005), en voorzitter van de Belgische Vereniging voor Milieurecht (1997-2003).

Pallemaerts' academische werkzaamheden sluiten aan bij een lange praktijkervaring in het nationale, Europese en internationale milieubeleid. Van 1992 tot 2003 was hij werkzaam als juridisch en beleidsadviseur op het Kabinet van de Vlaamse minister van Leefmilieu, vervolgens van de federale Staatssecretaris voor Leefmilieu en ten slotte als adjunct-kabinetschef van de federale Staatssecretaris voor Energie en Duurzame Ontwikkeling. In deze functies trad hij op als vertegenwoordiger van de Vlaamse, respectievelijk Belgische regering, alsook van het Belgisch voorzitterschap van de Europese Unie, in diverse internationale en Europese milieuonderhandelingen. Voorts is Pallemaerts onder meer voorzitter geweest van Greenpeace Belgium (1985-1992).