Environmental law functions through temporal concepts and time-related mechanisms, as well as influences the timescales of natural systems through its regulation of environmental impacting activities. These textures of time are not only poorly conceptualised in accounts of environmental law, many environmental decisions diverge from the timescales of biological, ecological and climatic systems. The dominant philosophy of sustainable development, which orientates governance to the future, has displaced our attention from other germane temporal dimensions of governance, namely: repairing historic ecological damage (ie past time), improving the law’s responsiveness to mutable circumstances (ie adaptive time), and managing the pace of environmental change (ie tempo). These weaknesses stem from deficiencies in the design of laws and their cultural and economic milieu. With primary reference to the Australian context, this article advances a novel critique of environmental law through the lens of time and suggests ways to align it with nature’s timescales.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	time, environmental law, Australian law
Research Division:	Law and Legal Studies
Research Group:	Law
Research Field:	Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Objective Division:	Environment
Objective Group:	Environmental Policy, Legislation and Standards
Objective Field:	Environmental Policy, Legislation and Standards not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Richardson, BJ (Professor Benjamin Richardson)
ID Code:	125895
Year Published:	2018
Deposited By:	Office of the Faculty of Law
Deposited On:	2018-05-15
Last Modified:	2018-12-07
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