Examining The Efficacy Of International Environmental Law Through The Japanese Discharge Of Nuclear Contaminated Water

In April 2021,Japan officially made the decision to discharge its nuclear effluent to the sea through a cabinet meeting,triggering international concern about the future of international environmental prevention and control.This is because behind the disposal of nuclear effluent lies the nuclear waste disposal problem that plagues all nuclear-powered countries.The discussions surrounding the discharge of nuclear effluent have also revealed the missing links in the existing international environmental protection and control,especially in the marine environment.At the subject level,the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA),the most authoritative and professional body in the world,has lost its credibility and authority because it has failed to exercise its independent executive power to regulate nuclear proliferation crises and nuclear safety incidents in the international community in a timely and effective manner throughout its history and past performance.At the behavioural level,firstly,both the Japanese domestic public and the international community expect Japan to conduct rigorous risk assessments of nuclear effluent discharges,yet there is a lack of uniform risk assessment standards at the international level as a guide.Secondly,international environmental law recognises the right of citizens to informed consent in the field of environmental law,but does not provide a mechanism to guarantee such citizens’ right to informed participation.The analysis reveals that existing international environmental law is not binding enough to effectively regulate the actions of states acting under their sovereignty.In today’s global crisis,environmental problems are becoming more and more dangerous,and the compliance mechanism of the international environmental protection system,which is supported by the principle of sustainable development,is not sufficiently motivated,and the principle of state primacy and state sovereignty occupies a high position in the international environmental protection field.However,on the one hand,the principle of national sovereignty cannot be shaken,and on the other hand,although soft law is not as binding as hard law,and the hardening of soft law is still the goal to be pursued in the realm of international environmental law,it should be recognised that soft law will play an increasingly important role in today’s world where multilateral contracting mechanisms are failing and global issues are becoming more prominent.For this reason,it is important not only to improve the rules of international environmental law within the existing framework,but also to introduce a new concept at the jurisprudential level,which should support the future innovation of soft law in international environmental law,but also take into account the realistic needs,so that this concept can have an intrinsic driving force to motivate countries to comply with international environmental law consciously.The "a community of a shared destiny for mankind" is more conducive to showing the future direction of global governance and conveying the important values of the future global crisis management process.The "a community of a shared destiny for mankind" is more conducive to the development direction of future global governance and to conveying important values for the future global crisis management process.The concept of "a community of a shared destiny for mankind" is more conducive to clarifying the powers(rights),obligations and responsibilities of each governance subject at the macro level of the global governance system,which can point out the general direction of global governance as a whole,and also facilitate the role of the micro level in each specific area of global governance.At a time when global crises are frequent,the "a community of a shared destiny for mankind" is more appealing,persuasive and effective than the "common concerns of mankind" in advocating and leading global collective action.The concept of "a community of a shared destiny for mankind" can be popularised through the discourse and legalised through domestic legislation,and the law-making function of international organisations can also be used to promote the embedding of the concept of "a community of a shared destiny for mankind" in international law,especially international environmental law.This paper predicts that,in the future,the concept of a a community of a shared destiny for mankind will be more widely accepted in the international legal system.By embedding of the concept of the a community of a shared destiny for mankind into the international environmental law system,the modern concept of the rule of law in different countries will converge with each other,promoting the better functioning of soft law,which lacks binding force,and ultimately promot the transformation of international environmental law from a national to an international community-based approach.