Green Crime Overview

Green Crime

• Refers to crimes committed against the environment.
• Distinguished into primary and secondary green crime.

Primary Green Crime

• Direct harm to the environment.
• Includes:
  • Species decline and animal rights violations (e.g., extinction rates, rainforest destruction).
  • Pollution (e.g., air pollution, water pollution).
  • Deforestation.
  • Crimes against species (e.g., trafficking, hunting, poaching).
  • Blue planet crime (e.g., water pollution).

Secondary Green Crime

• Violations of regulations intended to prevent environmental disasters.
• Includes:
  • Violence against environmental groups (e.g., attacks on Greenpeace).
  • Bribery/organized crime to avoid environmental regulations.
  • Ignoring government environmental regulations.
  • Examples include illegal dumping, radioactive waste disposal.

Definitions of Green Crime

• Nigel South: Green crime as 'crime against the environment'.
• Situ and Emmons: Environmental crime as "an unauthorised act or omission that violates the law".
• Rob White: Green crime as "any action that harms the physical environment and any creatures that live within it, even if no law has technically been broken."

Key Theories and Perspectives

• Ulrich Beck: Argues that today's society is a "global risk society," where manufactured risks (e.g., global warming, pollution) pose threats to human well-being and the environment. He emphasizes that these risks are often global in scope and interconnected.
• Phillip (with Beck): While everyone is theoretically vulnerable, wealthier people generally avoid the worst environmental risks;
• Potter (and Beck): Environmental problems often disproportionately affect vulnerable social groups (e.g., poverty, race, gender).
• Ecocentric/Anthropocentric Views: Ecocentric views consider harm to any part of the environment equally damaging, while anthropocentric views assess environmental harm only from a human-centered perspective.
• Transgressive Criminology: Green criminology frequently transcends traditional legal frameworks by focusing on harm rather than solely on broken laws.
• Marxist perspective: Green crime is linked to power imbalances; corporations and wealthy states often structure environmental laws to benefit themselves.

Key Concepts

• Globalisation: An important factor, with many environmental crimes crossing national borders.
• Environmental racism: The disproportionate way that minority groups suffer environmental harm.
• Zemiology: The study of social harms, an important element of contemporary green criminology.
• Eco-feminism: Links environmental harm to patriarchal social structures.
• State crime: The state's involvement in, or tolerance of, damaging environmental practices—illegal dumping, facilitating polluting corporations.
• Corporate crime: Companies prioritizing profit over environmental safety.

Examples of Green Crime

• Bhopal disaster, Chernobyl disaster, major accidents and emissions.
• Radioactive waste dumping, toxic waste dumping, fly tipping.

Traditional Criminology vs. Green Criminology

• Traditional criminology focuses on laws broken.
• Green criminology focuses on harm to the environment.

Note

Many figures and examples were noted in individual cards. Key scholars and their insights are summarized above.

Explore the concepts of green crime, including its definitions and classifications. Understand the differences between primary and secondary green crimes and their impact on the environment. This quiz covers crucial topics such as pollution, species decline, and violations of environmental regulations.