The Five Pillars of Climate Change Criminology

• In Event: Climate Change and Green Conservationism

Abstract

This paper outlines features of a systematic criminological approach to climate change. Development of ‘Climate Change Criminology’ is informed by five key thematic considerations. These thematic pillars provide the theoretical lens through which a specifically criminological understanding and interpretation of climate change might best be conveyed. They include considerations of crime and harm; global connectness and eco-justice; causes and consequences; power and interests; and social action and agitation. These are separate but inextricably linked domains of analysis, interpretation and critique. Each area demands novel ways of thinking about the problem, and employing methods and approaches that necessarily push the boundaries of contemporary criminological theory and the purview of modern criminal justice institutions.

Author

• Rob White, University of Tasmania