Disability and Climate Change: The 4Ps

Collectively, persons with disabilities are one of the most resource-poor groups in the world, and often face further marginalization due to intersecting factors such as their gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religious adherence, level of education, and geographical location. Hence, they are globally among the most at risk people to the impacts of accelerating climate change. Practically, this means they and their communities are living with signifcant climate-related issues including: increasing storms, foods and landslides; coastal inundation; droughts; wildfres; degradation of land, resources, infrastructure and living environments; extremes of temperature; and growing unpredictability and uncertainty (excerpt from Submission High-level Political Forum 2019 Submission Paper by the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities). The Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities in their 2019 submission paper to the High-level Political Forum clearly made the case that climate change has a negative impact on persons with disabilities, their families and communities. This working paper looks a little closer at these impacts.
Using the 4Ps, this briefng paper focuses on:
• The Personal - what affect climate change has had on individual lives and communities in the following areas: Livelihoods, Access to Information, Displacement/Migration and Health.
• The Programme – how can programmes implemented by DPOs and mainstream organisations take a more inclusive approach to climate and disability programmes and what does that mean for organisations.
• The Policy – what are the current approaches to climate change and disability inclusion in global frameworks and what are the challenges for national implementation.
• The Political – how can persons with disabilities become more actively involved in climate change activism and why political leaders need to take a more pro-active approach to including disability in their political commitments.