Research On The Application Of The Precautionary Principle

With the rapid development of modern science and technology,human beings are enjoying theenormous material wealth,while also suffering from the threat of the environmental risks itcauses. The environmental risk is a new kind of environmental problem,which is differentfrom the traditional environmental issues.Environmental risks have different characteristicswith the traditional environmental issues and more complexity. Environmental risks mayresult in serious,even irreversible damage. More and more environmental risks promote thehuman beings begin to think: what causes the generation of so many environmentalrisks?How to respond to environmental risks?The birth of the precautionary principle is torespond to environmental risks.The precautionary principle sets higher requirements for thehuman environmental behavior,reflecting a more cautious attitude of the human in thetreatment of nature. However, due to the environmental risk characteristics and highercomplexity, resulting in the dispute of the three elements of the precautionary principle.Thereis a big difficulty in the application of the precautionary principle. So, although theprecautionary principle in the international community has been more widely recognized, butthe discussion about the application never stopped.With economic development,the pressure that the environment and resources withstand isgrowing.Therefore, human activities may lead to the more and more environmental risks.From the risk society theory of famous German sociologist Ulrich Beck,we must recognize:human society has become a risk society filled with a large number of risks,especiallyenvironmental risks.The future is extremely fragile, human beings must take early preventive measures for long-term development.As a basic principle international of environmentallaw,the research on the precautionary principle is to incorporate it into domestic environmentallaw, to make it play a better role in dealing with environmental risks.In the first part of the article,the paper analyzes the basic concepts related to the precautionaryprinciple.The analysis relates to three basic concepts,risk,environmental risks and the riskaewreness,not only their basic meanings,but also their role played in the application ofprecautionary principle.The paper also explains the theory of risk society of Ulrich Beck.Thepaper briefly introduces the development and the translation of precautionary principle,andanalyzes the differences and connections of the precautionary principle and preventiveprinciple to find out the problems of the application of precautionary principle.In the second part of the article, the paper summarizes the hot issues in the discussion on theapplication of precautionary principle using the theory of risk society as a background. Thesecond part of the article contains three parts: the significance of the application of theprecautionary principle in risk society，the relationship between the precautionary principleand other basic principles of the international environmental law, some disputed issues of theapplication of the precautionary principle. In the first part of the discussion,this paperenvisages the "risk theory" related with the application of precautionary principle according toRussia’s "garbage theory",to highlight the significance of the application of the precautionaryprinciple for the developing countries.In the third part of the article, the paper analyzes the core elements of the precautionaryprinciple combined with tables.The precautionary principle includes three core elements: thethreat of serious or irreversible, scientific uncertainty as well as measures within the scope ofthe national capacities and cost-effective. The three core elements of the precautionaryprinciple is an important basis for its application.This paper put forward some newperspectives on the disputes of the three core elements.For the determination of thethreshold,this article envisages"the guide of environmental risk coefficient in all areas"and"theguide of the cumulative impact of environmental risks".In the fourth part of the article,the paper summarizes the provisions related to the application of the precautionary principle in the legal documents of the international environmental law.The final part which is most important analyzes the application of precautionaryprinciple.Firstly,this paper analyzes the risk conditions of China,the lack of risk awareness inChina’s environmental protection legislation and the significance of the application ofprecautionary principle in China.Secongly,from the macro to the micro level,the paperproposes recommendations of the application of precautionary principle in China.