CLIMATE JUSTICE AND THE DUTY OF PREVENTION: AN ANALYSIS OF THE STATE'S CIVIL LIABILITY IN THE FACE OF SOCIO-ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS

Abstract

The article analyzes the relationship between climate justice, the duty of prevention, and the civil liability of the State in the context of socio-environmental disasters, emphasizing that such events cannot be understood as purely natural phenomena, but rather as the result of the interaction between climate change and historically constructed social vulnerabilities. The qualitative research was conducted through a systematically performed literature review, based on the PRISMA recommendations, and examined 20 studies published between 2016 and 2026 within the Brazilian context. The results show that socio-environmental vulnerability is directly associated with factors such as unplanned urbanization, social inequality, inadequate infrastructure, and the absence of effective public policies. In this context, socially vulnerable groups are the most affected, reinforcing the importance of climate justice as an analytical framework to understand the unequal distribution of environmental risks and damages. The study also highlights limitations of the legal system, particularly due to the predominance of a reparative and individualistic approach, which is insufficient to address the complexity of disasters. It underscores the need to expand the participation of affected populations and to adopt more structural and preventive mechanisms. It concludes that the State’s civil liability should go beyond post-damage compensation, assuming a preventive and protective role through effective public policies, territorial planning, and the reduction of socio-environmental vulnerabilities.