This resource offers insights and information to better understand the impacts of climate change and natural disasters on people with disabilities.
People with disabilities are both the most vulnerable and the most overlooked population when it comes to addressing the effects of climate change. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, people with disabilities are more at risk in the case of disasters due to 1) a lack of access to education, 2) existing health conditions, and 3) difficulty evacuating safely. Further, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy highlights that because disabled people are more likely to experience poverty, this further elevates risk. Following the occurrence of a disaster, people have limited access to necessary resources and services including life-sustaining care. And many people will become newly disabled as a result. For all of these reasons, it’s imperative to include disability, especially mult-marginalized disabled people, in work focused on protecting the environment and preventing climate change.
We encourage you to explore the following resources and articles.
Perspectives from People with Disabilities
Articles
- It’s Time to Recognize Climate Change as a Disability Rights Issue by Tiffany Yu for Rooted in Rights
- A Call for Climate Action by Ipul Powaseu for the Disability Rights Fund
- Climate Darwinism Makes Disabled People Expendable by Imani Barbarin for Forbes
- To Survive Climate Catastrophe, Look to Queer and Disabled Folks by Patty Berne and Vanessa Raditz for YES!
- Disability And Disaster Response In The Age Of Climate Change by David Perry for Pacific Standard
- The End of the World As We Know It by Alex Ghenis for New Mobility
- To Each According To Their Own Abilities: Disability and Environmentalism by s.e. smith
Podcasts and FIlms
- Episode of the Disability Visibility Podcast on Climate Action with Kera Sherwood-O’Regan
- Cripping the Anthropocene, a podcast from Sins Invalid exploring the connections between disability justice and climate justice
- The Right to be Rescued, a documentary from Rooted in Rights
Philanthropic Efforts
- The Unknown Ally in the Fight for Environmental Justice by Ximena Saskia Warnaars, Program Officer, Natural Resources and Climate Change for the Ford Foundation
- Demanding Inclusion in Disaster Risk Reduction, Disability Rights Fund