Chapter 2 above discusses early warning and disaster risk reduction in detail. However, it considers it mostly from a financial perspective. This chapter deals with the question of disaster preparedness and early warning from the affected State's perspective and thus examines its responsibilities and duties. It first reviews disaster prevention in general and how it is situated in international law and, in particular, in international human rights law. The chapter then moves on to the possible obligation of States to provide early warning and examines this possibility with regard to the relevant case law of the ECtHR.

DISASTER PREVENTION AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

Disaster prevention is described by the UNISDR as ‘the outright avoidance of adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters’. As such, disaster prevention refers to actions that occur before the extreme weather event strikes and thus leads to a disaster situation. This definition is in, its essence, vague and needs further specification in order to determine what kind of actions are meant. Eduardo Valencia-Ospina, the Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, stresses in his sixth report that disaster prevention is an overarching principle that encompasses disaster preparedness and disaster mitigation. Therefore, in order to discuss disaster prevention in the context of international law, it is necessary to determine the two aspects of disaster prevention. After these two aspects have been discussed, this section moves on to place disaster prevention into the context of international law.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND DISASTER MITIGATION

In order to situate disaster prevention correctly in international law, the notion of disaster preparedness needs to be examined. As already explored, disaster prevention encompasses both disaster preparedness and disaster mitigation. First, a close look is taken at disaster preparedness, followed by an examination of disaster mitigation.

Disaster Preparedness

Disaster preparedness is one of the two aspects of disaster prevention. In order to fully understand the term, a close look at possible definitions is necessary. However, there exists more than one understanding of disaster preparedness: in particular the UNISDR and the Special Rapporteur on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters use different approaches.