The current academic definition of the principle of ecological environment risk prevention is mostly distinguished from that of environmental damage prevention, and is narrowly defined. This will lead to incoherent and unsystematic legislation on the ecological environment. The principle of ecological environment risk prevention should include the prevention principles stipulated by current environmental laws and the “residual risks” not considered by German environmental laws. Based on the reliability, urgency, and scientificity of “risk”, ecological environment risk prevention should be broadly interpreted, including “hazard prevention”, “risk prevention”, and “future warning”. The principle of ecological environment risk prevention should be divided into three legal structures, namely the prevention of “danger” of ecological environment damage, foreseeable risk prevention, and scientific uncertainty risk prevention. The principle of ecological environment risk prevention has three different functions, namely value function, general function, and specific function. The function is the horizontal axis, and the construction is the vertical axis. The intersection of the two forms the expression of the principle of ecological environment risk prevention in the norms of ecological environment law.