Victims of Environmental Harm

This chapter conceptualises the work of environmental/green victimology and its focus on victims of environmental harm. Green criminology has been slow to engage with victims of environmental harm and crime. This may be a result of the view that environmental crime is not real crime, in that it is not intrinsically bad because some harm to the environment is lawful and licensed. It may also derive from the fact that it may take many years for the effects of the offending to be felt and therefore is viewed by some as victimless. This means that many victims of environmental crime will not be recognised as such, will not participate in the resolution of the crime, and will not receive compensation for the harm suffered.