Toward a positive psychology-informed framework for environmental law, human flourishing, and ecological citizenship

Environmental law has traditionally been framed as a regulatory mechanism for ecological protection, yet its psychological and social dimensions remain underexplored. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of positive psychology, particularly Seligman's PERMA framework and the emerging literature on ecological wellbeing, this article proposes, as a theoretical framework rather than an established causal finding, that environmental law can function not merely as a constraint on harmful behaviour but as a structural enabler of human flourishing. We synthesise interdisciplinary evidence linking environmental legislation to positive psychological outcomes including enhanced meaning, positive emotion, social relatedness, and a sense of civic accomplishment through the lens of ecological citizenship. Environmental law, we propose, may activate motivational pathways that transform passive compliance into active engagement, thereby cultivating the psychological preconditions for ecological citizenship; this is a theoretical proposition rather than a demonstrated causal effect. We further examine the bidirectional relationship between nature connectedness, pro-environmental behaviour, and subjective wellbeing, demonstrating how robust legal frameworks can amplify these connections at a societal level. The article concludes with policy implications for designing environmental legislation that simultaneously promotes planetary sustainability and individual flourishing, proposing flourishing law paradigm as a conceptual bridge a between psychology, law, and ecology. To move beyond a purely conceptual mapping, we further develop five illustrative case analyses, each specifying a legal instrument, its hypothesised psychological mechanism, and the strength and limitations of the supporting evidence, synthesised in a comparative table.