Contemporary Perspectives on Environmental Enforcement

• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20964037
• Date: 01 March 2022
• Author: Angus Nurse
• Published date: 01 March 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X20964037

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2022, Vol. 66(4) 327 –344

© The Author(s) 2020

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/0306624X20964037

journals.sagepub.com/home/ijo

Article

Contemporary Perspectives

on Environmental

Enforcement

Angus Nurse1

Abstract

Green criminology allows for the study of environmental and criminal laws,

environmental criminality which includes widespread environmental harm, and the

abuse and exploitation of nonhuman animals. Yet many environmental crimes are not

the core focus of criminal justice systems or public concern about crime and safety

despite having the potential to cause far wider social harm and a large number of

deaths. Instead much environmental enforcement is regulatory or administrative in

nature, particularly in respect of corporate environmental wrongdoing, which is often

categorized as accidental wrongdoing, largely considered to be the fault of “rogue”

employees or the unintended consequences of governance failures. Unlike traditional

street and property crimes, environmental crimes (and environmental harms)

frequently have long-lasting and irreversible effects. This raises questions about the

effectiveness of justice systems in dealing with environmental offenders and the damage

they cause. This paper explores the effectiveness of contemporary environmental

enforcement mechanisms. In particular, the paper explores the extent to which they

such mechanism are equipped to deal with corporate environmental offending which

in many cases is a consequence of the operation of neoliberal markets. This paper

examines whether the drive for profits and anthropocentric attitudes toward the

environment and exploitation of natural resources create a situation where corporate

environmental crime is a foreseeable and even natural/inevitable consequence. Where

that is the case and where corporations have the resources to continue paying fines

and the expertise to navigate regulatory justice systems, an alternative to the law

enforcement “detection apprehension and punishment” approach might be required.

Keywords

green criminology, environmental crime, enforcement, pollution crimes, environmental

disasters, green movement

1Middlesex University School of Law, London, UK

Corresponding Author:

Angus Nurse, Middlesex University School of Law, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BT, UK.

Email: a.nurse@mdx.ac.uk

964037IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X20964037International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyNurse

research-article2020

328 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 66(4)

Introduction

Environmental crimes and harms represent a pressing threat to human society; yet are

arguably poorly and inconsistently dealt with by contemporary justice systems. White

(2018, pp. 7–8) talks about the “slow crisis” of environmental harms such that “floods

in Brazil, Australia and Sri Lanka in early 2011 were generally interpreted publicly as

once-in-a-100-year phenomenon” whilst the same was said about “Super Storm

Sandy” which occurred along the East Coast of the United States in 2012. Cyclones

and hurricanes are also considered “normal” to certain parts of the world and even oil

spills and chemical disasters might be described as “upset” incidents, the accidental

by-products of legitimate activities. However, such incidents and more “routine”

activities like the daily pollution caused by industrial processes and major corpora-

tions contribute to increased environmental harm that has potentially serious conse-

quences for human survival as well as being a form of “invisible” crime that falls

outside the remit of mainstream crime and justice policies. Lynch and Stretesky (2014)

also point to the near exclusion of environmental harms from criminological study of

crime and justice policy and practice. Lynch and Stretesky (2014) lament the failure of

contemporary justice policy to engage with environmental problems whilst Holley and

Shearing (2018, p. 13) suggest that criminology “will be defined by environmental

crimes and environmental harms in the age of the Anthropocene” indicating also that

criminology may require some rethinking in a contemporary era of human-caused

harm. Tombs and Whyte (2015, p. 47) identify a range of contemporary crimes such

as “illegal emissions to air, water and land; hazardous waste dumping; and illegal

manufacturing process” that cause considerable harm to the environment and that

arguably should draw the attention of criminological inquiry.

How best to deal with environmental problems is a matter of considerable debate

and is the focus of this article. Unlike traditional street and property crimes, environ-

mental crimes (and environmental harms) frequently have long-lasting and irreversible

effects, particularly where they impact on non-human animals. This raises questions

about the effectiveness of justice systems in dealing with environmental offenders and

the damage they cause. This article argues that within the context of environmental

disasters such as the Gulf Oil Spill, problems caused by climate change and associated

pollution events that kill thousands of people each year, and the widespread illegal kill-

ing of wildlife, we are heading for an environmental apocalypse. Yet many environ-

mental crimes are not the core focus of criminal justice systems and public concern

about crime and safety despite having the potential to cause far wider social harm and

a greater number of deaths. Criminal justice systems that are predominantly based on

the punishment of offenders, often fail to address the harm caused by environmental

incidents. This article argues that large scale eco-global crimes are of significance not

just because they are “crimes” that have a global reach and impact on both existing

communities and future generations, but also because they affect and involve a range of

nation states and different justice systems. By considering these issues, green criminol-

ogy examines complex issues in criminological enquiry that extend beyond the narrow

confines of individualistic crime which dominate criminological discourse and are the