The article is devoted to the study of the problems of definition and legislative regulation of the environment as an object of criminal law protection. In the legal literature there is no consensus regarding the definition of the object of environmental crimes. Some believe that the object of this group of crimes is the order of use of natural resources or the social relations related to their economic exploitation; others consider that state property relations, which are expressed in natural resources; finally, the object of this group of crimes is directly the natural resources themselves or the entire environment. Taking into account the legislative regulation of the rules united by generic groups and the scientific and theoretical definition of the object of the crime, we consider that the object of environmental crimes is public relations regarding the protection of the environment, the preservation of favorable natural conditions for nature, living beings and ensuring a sufficient level of environmental safety. In this context, an enabling environment must be considered as an environment whose quality ensures the safety of the functioning of the natural environment and other objects. The subject of crime in the science of criminal law makes it possible to solve many important problems from a practical point of view, as it is characterized by a relative criminal-legal independence: to distinguish the general and special elements of crimes; the subject of the crime allows us to ascertain the nature and extent of the damage that was caused by the crime, as well as to identify the relationship between the criminal act and the consequences.