Disaster Risk Reduction and International Cultural Heritage Law: Moving Toward Cross-Fertilization

Abstract

As the purpose of this panel is to explore the critical need for embedding international legal instruments within paradigms provided by disaster risk reduction (DRR), the area of international cultural heritage law could be a significant test-case in this regard. First, as experienced by several other branches of international law, it is possible to recognize an increasing attention paid by relevant specialized institutions, in this case the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to challenges posed by DRR, and finally permitting to: (1) integrate DRR concerns in the institutional and lawmaking agenda of this international organization, in order to inform and guide activities to be carried out by member states who face threats posed by disasters against their cultural heritage; and (2) provide an evolutionary and contextual interpretation of the existing commitments in this area in light of DRR paradigms. Second, a cross-fertilization phenomenon could also be recognized, as for the emerging recognition of cultural concerns in the same DRR system, through a process which has subsequently permitted UNESCO to additionally foster action in this area.