Jaap Spier (1950) was advocate general in the Dutch Supreme Court until 1 September 2016, a position he held for 19 years. Spier holds an honorary chair for Global Challenges at the University of Stellenbosch (South-Africa), is a senior associate University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, senior fellow at the Gobal Justice Program, Yale University, member of the scientific advisory board of ClimLaw Graz (Austria).
Jaap Spier is the co-founder of an international expert group responsible for drafting the ‘Oslo Principles on Global Climate Obligations’ and the ‘Principles on Climate Obligations of Enterprises’ (first and second edition); Jaap is the editor of the second edition and author of the extensive commentary to both editions.
Jaap is the founder and honorary president of the European Group on Tort Law and honorary president of the Dutch Association for Liability and Insurance law.
Jaap Spier has been an honorary professor of Law and Global Challenges at the University of Amsterdam (Politics, Psychology, Law & Economics (PPLE) College) between 2016 and 2019, and an honorary professor at Maastricht University until 4 March 2016. Prior to this, he was a fulltime professor at Tilburg University. Spier received his PhD at Leyden University in 1981.
He has published numerous books and academic papers in the realm of liability law, insurance law and private law. Since 2000, his primary focus is on global sustainability issues, particularly climate change.
Climate Principles for Enterprises 