Lecture series Sustainability & Law popular with students
The sixth edition of the lecture series Duurzaamheid & Recht was held during the last semester. Once again, it attracted many students.
Over a period of six weeks, a range of interesting topics related to sustainability were considered. Every two weeks, two experts – a lecturer from Leiden Law School and an expert from legal practice – shared their knowledge on specific topics within their professional field. This year, students enjoyed fascinating lectures on:
- An international plastics treaty;
- Sustainable fashion;
- Sustainability & food;
- Greenwashing;
- Sustainable aviation;
- Climate lawsuits
About the lecturers
The first lecture was on an international plastics treaty that is currently being negotiated under the auspices of the UN. The lecture dealing with sustainable fashion was given by Alexandra Linn of the Dutch Sustainable Fashion Week. It provided an analysis of issues within the sector that affect the sustainability – or lack of sustainability – of fashion.
Genevieve Noordeloos, from the Institute of Private Law, spoke about her research on the design of sustainable consumption and how contract law, as part of the legal framework for sustainable clothing, could facilitate this.
In his lecture on sustainability & food, Jan Paul van Soest spoke about the changes needed in consumer behaviour to enable a sustainable transition. He stressed the role that the food production industry can play in that regard. Vincent Delhomme explained how the EU regulates food production and food safety, but also its shortcomings in efforts to bring about sustainable food production.
Tom Bouwman and Joris Ruigewaard talked about the phenomenon called greenwashing and the work conducted by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) to check unfounded claims to sustainability.
The Foundation for Nature Conservation and Environmental Protection (Natuur & Milieu) gave a lecture on sustainable aviation. The economic nature and the legal framework were analysed to show where opportunities lie for the government to tackle emissions caused by the aviation industry.
The series concluded with a lecture given by Lianne Baars and Lotte Gunneweg on climate lawsuits where they talked about the recent ruling by the Supreme Court in the case Shell vs. Milieudefensie and the hearing of the Vanuatu ICJ initiative.
Conclusion
This year the lecture series was once again popular with students. A total of 19 blogs were submitted for which 19 certificates were awarded. The best blogs are currently being edited to prepare them for publication on the Leiden Law Blog. We thank all speakers who helped to make the sixth edition of Duurzaamheid & Recht possible.