What we do to the environment impacts our health. We need the earth to be stable, and help us thrive. Climate change is a result of treating the place that we live as an afterthought, not something to care for. 

There are much more serious laws for shoplifting than polluting our environment and making it uninhabitable. Why is one theft and dealt with in the criminal law system, and why is one dealt with under civil law, and with smaller punishments? 

Meanwhile:

• Heatwaves kill more Australians than any other natural hazard (Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience, 2022). In the UK – what kills?

• Air pollution — driven mostly by burning fossil fuels — causes 8.7 million premature deaths globally every year (The Lancet, 2021).

• Food insecurity and mental health issues are already rising with every major flood, drought, and fire (IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, 2023).

Why?

Because most legal systems weren’t built to protect people first.

They were built to protect property, trade, and markets.

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What Our Legal System Was Built to Protect

Current law — especially in Australia and the UK — evolved out of a very different set of priorities:

• Common law was designed to settle disputes over land and contracts, not safeguard human health.

• Environmental legislation mostly came later, and focused on regulating resource extraction and pollution — not preventing harm to people.

• Even today, constitutional protections (where they exist) rarely include a right to a healthy environment. (The UN Human Rights Council only formally recognised it in 2021).

In short:

Health and living impacts were seen as side effects — not the system’s responsibility.

And you can still see that logic in the way we legislate climate action now.

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Reimagining What Justice Looks Like

If we’re serious about climate justice, we have to rethink what — and who — our laws are built to protect.

It’s not enough to safeguard assets and GDP stats.

Justice means putting life — human and non-human — at the centre of every decision.

It means recognising that a liveable climate isn’t a luxury. It’s a right.

Our laws were built to protect property — not people. Let’s reimagine the laws to reflect what justice should look like in a warming world. 

Example of Legislative Reform:

In 2025, the UK government introduced the Water (Special Measures) Act to address environmental concerns related to water pollution, following the sewerage scandal in the UK, where water companies have been discharging raw sewerage into rivers, then getting millions in bonuses. Key provisions of the Act include:

• Criminal Liability for Executives: Water company executives can now face up to two years in prison if they are found to have concealed illegal sewage discharges. (GOV.UK)

• Bonus Restrictions: Regulators have been granted the authority to block performance-related bonuses for executives if their companies fail to meet environmental standards. (GOV.UK)

• Enhanced Transparency: Water companies are required to publish real-time data on sewage discharges, ensuring public access to information about environmental impacts. (GOV.UK)

These measures represent a significant shift in environmental legislation, aiming to deter pollution through stricter penalties and increased transparency. Although i do note in some instances it is cheaper to pay the fine, and keep polluting. Let’s stop rewarding polluters.