Linking Hate Crime and Democracy Crime to Climate Change Crime

Green criminology refers to the study of harms on humanity, the environment and nonhuman species committed by powerful institutions and organisations as well as ordinary people. It addresses violations of environmental morality, environmental ethics, animal rights, nature rights, eco-justice and social justice. Analysing climate change crimes is particularly challenging. Few actors can cause great harm across the globe with many invisible victims. In addition, the International Court of Justice recently advised that nations that commit climate change crime can be held legally accountable if they fail to minimise severe harm to the climate system. Rising powers of far-right populists have come with increasing influence of climate change deniers over policy, and climate policies are denounced and aborted. In parallel, far-right politicians systematically use hate speech and hate crime as a tactic to polarise climate politics, mobilise ingroup followers, and delegitimise and silence pro-climate advocates, eventually harming democracy. This paper theorises on the links between climate change crime, hate crime and democracy crime and suggests a broadening of green criminology to better analyse crimes and victims of climate politics. Green criminology should not only address power in the political economy, but the ideologies and governance styles associated with politics.