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THEO VAN BOVEN LECTURE 2025

Lecture series
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Environmental Apocalypse and Digital Doomsday: Can strategic human rights litigation save the world? by Christiaan van Veen

 

We are facing existential crises that are global in nature and with potentially devastating implications for the future of humanity. Our world is in the midst of a triple planetary crisis consisting of a climate emergency, large-scale biodiversity loss and a pollution and waste crisis that the United Nations Secretary-General has called a “senseless and suicidal war against nature”. 
At the same time, the adoption of digital technologies, including the rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence, have many worried about a future that, even without an AI apocalypse, will be dominated by those few States and big corporations who wield control over these technologies without real accountability. We appear to be witnessing an increasing turn towards the court to address these existential crises globally. 

Is litigation a good response to deal with these threats and why exactly? What are the risks involved of turning to the courts to address existential issues of this sort? And perhaps most importantly: what is the precise role for human rights in this domain?

Bio Speaker

Christiaan van Veen is an international human rights lawyer with a diverse background as a legal practitioner and advocate. Between 2014 and 2020 he worked as senior advisor on the mandate of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. From 2019 to 2022 he founded and directed a pioneering research and advocacy project at New York University School of Law on the Digital Welfare State and Human Rights. 

van veen
Christiaan van Veen

Since 2023, Christiaan’s work has focused on the relationship between the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution and international human rights law, including as an attorney in the groundbreaking litigation in the Netherlands by Friends of the Earth (Milieudefensie) against Shell. 

Previously, Christiaan has also worked as an attorney for a leading law firm in Amsterdam focusing on telecoms regulation, antitrust law and media law (2008-2013). Christiaan has also worked for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Commission on litigation before the Court of Justice of the European Union (2007-2008). Christiaan has furthermore been an NYU International Finance and Development Fellow at the World Bank Legal Vice Presidency and a consultant for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He has taught graduate courses at New York University School of Law as an Adjunct Professor and at Melbourne Law School as a Senior Fellow. He holds Master’s degrees in European law and international law from Utrecht University (cum laude) and New York University.

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