Introduction: The Impact of the International and European Union Environmental Law on Japanese Basic Environmental Law

Abstract

This chapter seeks to introduce this book by describing the interaction between international, European Union (EU) and Japanese environmental law. Specifically, it will show how international law influenced the EU environmental law and the Japanese Basic Environmental Law. This chapter explains how international and European environmental law impacted the Japanese Basic Environmental Law and, compares the Japanese and EU environmental law. In fact, the EU environmental law has been influenced by international environmental law, although the EU presently plays a leading role in shaping the world environmental law. This chapter will describe how the Japanese Basic Environmental Law and the EU environmental law have developed simultaneously, albeit sometimes differently. First, I briefly describe the development of the EU environmental law and movements in global environmental protection. Second, I describe the Japanese Basic Environmental Law based on the aspects of, history, structure and content.