Mr. Marc Pallemaerts, former Special Rapporteur (2012-2014)

Mr. Marc Pallemaerts, a national of Belgium, was appointed by the Human Rights Council in September 2012 to serve as UN Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. He held this position until 2 May 2014, when he passed away.

Following studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Harvard University, Mr. Pallemaerts had a distinguished career in the field of environmental law, including as Professor of European environmental law at the University of Amsterdam and of European and international environmental law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and as Senior Fellow and head of the Global Issues and External Action Programme at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).

Between 2003 and 2005, he served as Chair of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. In 2005, he was elected a member of the Kyoto Protocol Compliance Committee, and, in 2007, was appointed by the European Commission as non-voting member of the Management Board of the European Chemicals Agency representing environmental and consumer protection organisations, a position he held until his appointment as an alternate and additional member of the Agency's Board of Appeal in September 2008.

Mr. Pallemaerts' main areas of expertise included regulation of chemicals, climate change, environmental rights, and EU environmental policy and governance. He published widely on these subjects in national and international journals.

Mr. Pallemaerts will always be remembered as an outstanding and committed expert and as a tireless advocate for human rights and environmental protection.