Experts & Expertise

• Climate Change
• Sustainability
• Administrative law
• Environmental law
• Environmental policy
• European environmental law
• International environmental law
• Victimology

 http://vimeo.com/27888535

In 1993, Verschuuren received his PhD degree cum laude on the basis of a dissertation on the Constitutional Right to Environmental Protection (Tilburg, supervisor: prof.dr. Piet Gilhuis).

In 1999, Verschuuren obtained the position of full professor of International and European Environmental Law at Tilburg University, currently belonging to the faculty of the Tilburg Sustainability Center and the Center for Transboundary Legal Development. In 2011, Verschuuren was a visiting professor at the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law at the University of Sydney to research climate change adaptation law. He also is or has been a visiting professor at the universities of Connecticut, North West/Potchefstroom (South Africa) and Leuven (Belgium). Since 2008, Verschuuren has been appointed as "extraordinary professor" at the North West University in South Africa. In the past, Verschuuren was a member of the Dutch national advisory council for the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment. He is a member of the Commission on Environmental Law and the Academy of Environmental Law, both of IUCN. From 2008 until 2010, Verschuuren acted as the vice dean research of the Tilburg Law School and as the director of its graduate school.

Verschuuren's research is mainly aimed at the legal aspects of adaptation to climate change and at the relationship between international, European and national environmental law, e.g. in the field of nature protection and water law (Wild Birds Directive, Water Framework Directive, Wetlands Convention). He also studies legal environmental justice, the human right to environmental protection, environmental legal principles, management of transboundary wetlands/protected areas, governance, legal pluralism.

Current projects:

• Economic instruments to achieve climate targets in Europe (focus on Emissions Trading Scheme)(ENTRACTE, EU FP7 project 2012-2015)
• Climate-induced foreign agro-investment in Ethiopia and Uganda: improving the legal pathways and securing the empowerment of local stakeholders (NWO project development grant 2012-2013)
• The legal aspects of connectivity conservation (IUCN 2012-2013)

Recent projects:

• Juridische aspecten van geo-engineering voor klimaatverandering, onderzoek voor het Rathenau Insituut (2012)
• Climate change and armed conflict, project for The Hague Institute for Global Justice (2012)
• Juridische toets: passende beoordeling boomkorvisserij in de Natura 2000-gebieden Voordelta, Noordzeekustzone, Vlakte van Raan, onderzoek voor Greenpeace, Februari 2012, 11 p. (met A. Trouwborst)
• Juridische toets doelensytematiek Natura 2000 in Nederland, research report for BirdLife Netherlands, October 2006, 43 pages (with C.J. Bastmeijer, M.K. de Bruin), also published by BirdLife Netherlands, Zeist 2006, 46 pages
• Effectentoets voor specifieke beleidsmaatregelen en regelgeving ter beheersing van geurhinder veroorzaakt door hinderlijke inrichtingen, Advice for the Flemish Environment Ministry on combatting industrial odours, December 2006, 181 pages (with I. Larmuseau et al.)
• Tussensprint naar 2015. Advies over de financiering van de primaire waterkeringen voor de bescherming van Nederland tegen overstroming, Advice by the Advisory Commission on the Financing of Primary Dykes for the Minister of Water, Public Works and Traffic, December 2006, 70 pages (with P. Vellinga, M.J.F. Stive, J.K. Vrijling, P.B. Boorsma, E.V. van Ierland)
• Advies inzake uitgangspunt Wabo 'Eens bevoegd gezag, altijd bevoegd gezag', Advice for the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG), January 2007, 14 pages (with M.K. de Bruin, F.C.M.A. Michiels)
• Internationaal natuurbeschermingsrecht: inspiratie voor de nationale wetgever?, Advice for the Dutch Ministry for Agriculture, Food Quality and Nature, October 2007 (with M.K. de Bruin, C.J. Bastmeijer) - will be made public Feb. 2008

Visiting professor University of Sydney (Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law) (2011)

member Malta Forum Legal Issues for Adaptation to Climate Change (2011-present)

Extraordinary professor North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

member Commission on Environmental Law, IUCN

member IUCN Academy of Environmental Law

Visiting professor University of Connecticut (2000, 2009)

Visiting faculty Leuven University (master of international and European environmental and energy law)

Verschuuren is or has been supervising a total of 21 PhD students on following topics: Environmental Self-Regulation (Dr. Rob van Gestel), The Antarctic Protocol and its legal implementation at the domestic level (Dr. Kees Bastmeijer), Information and Product Chain Management (Dr. Tom de Wit), Environmental Impact Assessment (Dr. Katinka Jesse), The Concept of Biodiversity in Law (Dr. Timon Oudenaarden), Efficacy of Biodiversity related International Law (Dr. Karin Baakman), The Realisation of South Africa's Environmental Human Right at Local Government Level (Anel du Plessis LLD), Environmental Justice in Europe (Dr. Steve Kuchta), Transfer of technology under the international climate change regime to China (Dr. Zhou Chen), Transfrontier biodiversity conservation in southern Africa (Niel Lubbe), Liability for nuclear damage under international public law (Dr. Sayed Zeidan), Eco-labelling and climate change (Mehmet Cetik), Legal aspects of geo-engineering technology trials (Jesse Reynolds), Legal protection of future generations in climate law (Peter Lawrence), Climate-induced migration (Mariya Gromilova), Access-and-benefitsharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity (Julia Oliva), Greening tax law in Ethiopia (Merhatbeb T. Gebregiorg), Flyway protection of European migratory vogels in Africa (Melissa Lewis), Towards a legal framework for oilspill restoration in the Niger Delta (Enobong Akpambang), Environmental law in the antropocene (Louis Kotzé), Public participation in environmental impact assessment in Ethiopia (Desta G. Gidey), liability for damage caused by geo-engineering (Weldon Turner).

• Connectivity: Is Natura 2000 only an Ecological Network on Paper? Paper presented at the international conference ?20 Years of Habitats Directive: European Wildlife?s Best Hope??, co-organized by the Universities of Ghent, Louvain, Saint-Louis and others, Antwerp, Belgium, December 12-13, 2012
• A Radical Shift for the Future of Environmental Law: the Potential and Risks of the Use of Technology for the Benefit of the Environment (co-author: Floor Fleurke), paper presented at the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Colloquium ?Global Environmental Law at a Crossroad?, University of Maryland, Baltimore, July 1-5 2012
• How to protect global biodiversity? Transnational regulation of biodiversity resources, paper presented at the Law Schools Global League conference ?Global Legal Research?, June 22 2012, Tilburg University, Netherlands, 8 pp.
• Towards a legal framework for coastal adaptation: Assessing the first steps in Europe and Australia (co-author: Jan McDonald), paper presented at symposium ?The Governance of Adaptation?, March 22-23 2012, Institute for Environmental Studies, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 19 pp.

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  From North to South. Legal pathways to stimulate biodiversity conservation in developing countries in the transboundary trade in biodiversity resources, paper presented at the conference 'Transboundary Trade in Biodiversity Resources', North West University, South Africa, November 14th-15th 2011

•  Climate Change: Rethinking Restoration under the Natura 2000-regime. Paper presented at the 2nd European Congress of Conservation Biology, Prague, Sept. 1-5th 2009 (28 p.). An elaborated version of this paper titled "Climate Change: Rethinking Restoration", was presented at the 7th Annual colloquium of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law "Environmental Governance and Sustainability", Wuhan, Nov. 1-5th 2009. A further elaborated version of the paper was presented at the conference "Resilience and Climate Change: Law's Response", Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law, Sydney, August 26th-27th 2010

• Co-operative governance of transboundary wetlands under the Ramsar Convention: How international law works in practice. Paper presented at the SANPAD workshop "Improving Transboundary Environmental Governance in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique. A legal analysis", Potchefstroom, South Africa, Sept.22nd 2008, 84 p.

• Adaptation to Climate Change to Save Biodiversity: Lessons Learnt from African and European Experiences (co-authors: S. Erens, K. Bastmeijer). Paper presented by S. Erens at the IUCN Academy of Environmental law conference "Climate Law in Developing Countries post-2012: North and South Perspectives", Ottawa, Canada, Sept. 26-28th 2008, 30 p.
• Co-operative Governance of Transboundary Wetlands under the Ramsar Convention. Paper presented at the 5th Worldwide Colloquium of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, Rio de Janeiro/Paraty, May 31st-June 5th 2007, 46 p.
• Adaptation to Climate Change: Opportunities and Barriers. Paper presented at the International Colloquium on Global Warming, Rio de Janeiro, May 21st, 2007, 8

J.M. (Jonathan) Verschuuren teaches the following subjects:

• Climate Law (600330) Further information
• Master's Thesis Environmental Law (690903) Further information
• International and European Environmental Law (660061) Further information
• Seminar Environmental Law (660084) Further information

• member Editorial Advisory Board of South African Journal of Environmental Law and Policy (2012-present)
• member editorial board of the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment (2011-present)
• member Forum of Legal Experts for Climate Change Adaptation ("Malta Forum")(2011-present)
• visiting professor University of Sydney (2011)
• member of the board of environmental NGO "Brabants Landschap" (2010-present)
• former vice dean research Tilburg Law School (2008-2010)
• former director of Tilburg Graduate Law School (2008-2010)
• extraordinary professor at North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa (2008-present)
• visiting professor at the University of Connecticut Law School (2009)
• member of Academy of Environmental Law IUCN
• member of Commission on Environmental Law IUCN
• member of the Dutch Commission on Environmental Impact Assessment
• member of the NWO programme commission on climate change research (until 2008)
• member of the editorial board of the Belgian environmental law journal (Tijdschrift voor Milieurecht)
• member of editorial team Dutch environmental law journal (Milieu & Recht)
• member of editorial team Netherlands Journal on European Law
• former member of the Dutch Advisory Council on Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment (2005)
• former member of the Dutch Evaluationcommission of the Environmental Management Act (2000-2003)