Advocacy Paper addresses the impact of exclusion of persons with disabilities from climate governance

Disability Inclusive Climate Action COP26 Advocacy Paper highlights the disproportionate impact of climate change and the possible adverse impacts of climate mitigation and adaptation activities on persons with disabilities. It also proposes measures to ensure the inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in climate-related decision-making.

This paper is a product of the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network Disability Inclusive Climate Action Working.

Although persons with disabilities constitute 15% of the world’s population, climate action, including at the
multilateral level, has neglected to fully reflect their rights. While the preamble to the 2015 Paris Agreement
includes persons with disabilities as one of the groups most acutely affected by climate change, they have
been largely excluded from decision-making processes and outcomes under the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as from States’ climate change policies and plans at the domestic level.

As the world moves forward with measures to combat climate change, it is vital that States and other actors
design and implement disability-inclusive policies that enhance and protect, rather than undermine, the
human rights of persons with disabilities.

This document was first drafted by the Disability Inclusive Climate Action Research Program, acting under Center for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, McGill University in collaboration with a group of civil society organizations including organizations of persons with disabilities. The document was then reviewed by the Disability Inclusive Climate Action Working Group (DICAWG) established under Global Action on Disability (GLAD Network) and was also endorsed by the International Disability Alliance.

The organizations represented by the DICAWG Co-chairs and members are the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (UK), Finland Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Global Networks Consultancy, Humanity and Inclusion, International Disability Alliance, International Labour Organization, International Disability and Development Consortium, International Fund for Agricultural Development, McGill University, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, ONCE Social Group, U.S. State Department, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Children’s Fund, U.S. Agency for International Development, and the World Bank.

This paper:

• Addresses the impact of the exclusion of persons with disabilities from climate governance;
• Outlines why a disability inclusive approach to climate change is needed;
• Highlights the contributions that persons with disabilities and their representative organisations can make to climate action; and
• Suggests a set of key priorities and recommendations for States, donors, the private sector, the civil society and OPDs at national, regional, and international levels to ensure the meaningful inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in climate action.

Download a copy–  Disability Inclusive Climate Action COP26 Advocacy Paper

Press Release by GLAD