The Earth, the Corporation, and the Unfinished Remedy: Human Rights, Environmental Harm, and the Limits of English Law

The relationship between corporate conduct, environmental harm, and human rights is one of the most pressing yet legally underdeveloped areas of English company law. As communities across the world—and increasingly in this jurisdiction—suffer the consequences of corporate environmental damage, a fundamental question arises: does English law provide an adequate civil remedy for those whose human rights are violated by corporate environmental misconduct? While English tort law provides some avenues for redress, the absence of a general civil cause of action directly grounded in human rights violations arising from environmental harm represents a lacuna that places the United Kingdom increasingly out of step with the direction of travel in comparable jurisdictions, where courts and legislatures have shown a greater willingness to recognise corporate obligations framed through the language of human rights and environmental responsibility.