Sistema de alerta antecipado de risco de desastres e responsabilidade civil do estado: impactos e agravamento de vulnerabilidades nos desastres

Abstract

The objective of this research is to hold state entities accountable for the (in)effectiveness of disaster early warning systems, particularly those employed during the February 2022 disaster in the municipality of Petrópolis/RJ. The effectiveness of an alert system is multifactorial, involving climate vulnerability, environmental information, and risk awareness. The civil liability of the state entity for failure to act in cases of environmental damage is strict. In this context, the guiding question of the research is: Considering the early warning systems for disaster risk used by Civil Defense in the municipality of Petrópolis/RJ during the February 2022 disaster, are public entities civilly liable for the (in)effectiveness of these systems, given their impact on populations in situations of climate vulnerability? Based on this, the hypothesis is that the alert system in Petrópolis is insufficient to convey the severity of the disaster to environmentally vulnerable populations, which exacerbates their situation and gives rise to the civil liability of the State, particularly the municipality. To test this hypothesis and answer the research question, the study adopts a qualitative approach from a critical perspective, in addition to the hypothetical-deductive method. Furthermore, the research follows a transdisciplinary approach, establishing dialogues with various branches of Law—such as Environmental Law, Disaster Law, Climate Change Law, and International Law—and other fields of knowledge, including Education, Geography, History, and Sociology. This work aligns with the themes addressed by the research line “Society, New Rights, and Transnationalization” of the Postgraduate Program in Law at Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, which focuses on the study of emerging rights, the impacts of globalization, and diffuse and collective rights, all through a transdisciplinary lens. The findings confirmed, based on an extensive analysis of environmental information and risk awareness, that in the context of climate disasters and climate vulnerability, raising public risk awareness is a duty of the state entity, as a strategy to reduce vulnerability and ensure the effectiveness of early warning systems. This approach must be transdisciplinary and inclusive of all age groups. Moreover, the study demonstrated that in the context of climate disasters, it is the duty of state entities—especially municipalities—to work together with Civil Defense to organize meetings of the Community Centers for Protection and Civil Defense, in order to educate and train the population to understand alerts, as well as to enforce Law No. 12,608/2012. In this context, the State’s undeniable responsibility for complying with the National Policy on Civil Protection and Defense (PNPDEC) was analyzed through the lens of the February 2022 disaster. Data collection, carried out through a semi-structured interview, revealed the existence of an early warning system in place during the event, in accordance with the Contingency Plan of Petrópolis at the time. However, it also highlighted the fragility of the Community Protection and Civil Defense Centers and their difficulty in remaining consistent with the PNPDEC, whether due to internal or external factors.