Environmental law can be made preventive and efficient, and it can enlist willing compliance before using the punishing hand, creating a constructive relationship between the governing and the governed. The "adversarial" relationship for which environmental regulation is famous is appropriate for those unwilling to comply, but not appropriate for the many well-meaning regulated entities.

This book explains how these, and other principles of reformed environmental law have been demonstrated successfully but the lessons of success have not been learned. The approach of the book is to collate examples of environmental governance, policy-making and ethics and demonstrate paths towards a more progressive environmental and climate agenda.