Traditionally, environmental crime and justice were viewed as issues for researchers working in disciplines such as public health, epidemiology, forensic science, geography, public policy, ecology, sociology, business management, and political science. More recently, the importance placed on the social consequences of climate change, as well as what to do about this problem, has caused fields such as atmospheric and climate science to address concerns about environmental crime, regulation, and justice. Since the late 1990s, however, criminologists have started to make a meaningful...

Traditionally, environmental crime and justice were viewed as issues for researchers working in disciplines such as public health, epidemiology, forensic science, geography, public policy, ecology, sociology, business management, and political science. More recently, the importance placed on the social consequences of climate change, as well as what to do about this problem, has caused fields such as atmospheric and climate science to address concerns about environmental crime, regulation, and justice. Since the late 1990s, however, criminologists have started to make a meaningful contribution to the environmental crime and justice literature. This entry is not comprised entirely of criminological research, since significant contributions to the study of environmental crime and justice are made by researchers in various disciplines. The entry features issues of criminological relevance and excludes broad coverage of background issues in science that may help to establish a better understanding of environmental issues. Also excluded is a section on climate change, since criminologists, with few exceptions, have yet to explore the relevance of this issue. There is a section on empirical and case studies useful to those interested in specific areas of concern to criminologists.