Law is constantly evolving. Environmental law in particular needs to keep changing to keep abreast of all social developments. Throughout history, there has always been an early recognition of the need for planning, which is now incorporated into some aspects of environmental law. The most advanced ancient civilisations such as the Minnoans, the Ancient Indus and the Romans identified the link between sewage disposal and public health. It was not until capitalism took precedent in many countries from the Middle Ages onwards that such knowledge became of less priority and eventually lost.

The succession of Public Health Acts permeating the mid to late nineteenth century and proceeding into the early twentieth century could be viewed as the first, albeit inadvertent environmental legislation introduced into the UK. Chadwick's report on the Enquiry into the Sanitary Conditions of Towns, led to the introduction of the 1848 Public Health Act. This identified the fact that the main problems existing within towns were related to the water supply, sewerage, drainage cleaning and paving, and therefore did not focus upon the individual or households. The links between diseases, sanitation and housing were also common strands running throughout later legislation during the 1870s-particularly the Local Government Board Act 1871 and the Public Health Acts 1875 and 1879. During this era, it was necessary to maintain equilibrium between the government's intervention into private property rights, and the great need for excellent public health standards. The Alkali Acts 1863 and 1868 saw the creation of a central inspectorate armed with extensive powers. Inspectorates were also created for river pollution under the River Pollution prevention Act 1876. Moreover, the Acts developed many of the principles used in this century most notably Best Practicable Means (BPM)- whereby the costs of new technologies, introduced to ameliorate poor health standards, were not to the detriment of profits.

It was not until the aftermath of World War II in the United Kingdom that the legislation introduced highlighted a gradual acceptance of the need for regulation which in 1972, was accelerated by the UK joining the EC (what is now known as the European Union- EU). The main role of the EC was to create a level playing field, predominantly in terms of trade, for all of the industries within the member nations. An international conference on the environment in 1972 held in Stockholm widely promoted environmental protection and from this point in time onwards, environmental protection has become a central objective of international law. The highly successful EU environmental action programme has driven the UK to develop environmental legislation. Furthermore, the directives introduced from European regulation are now the most common form of legislation, including environmental, in the UK.

Today, environmental statutes allow for a more sensible approach to the problems of environmental pollution than those prior to them, especially because they deal with calculating the economic feasibility of environmental protection.