Mention “climate change and disability” and many are puzzled — but that lasts only a few sentences into further explanation.
Comprising a significant 10 percent to 15 percent of the global population, people with disabilities are uniquely affected by climate change. This population includes a wide array of mobility, sensory (visual, hearing), developmental, intellectual and emotional impairments, as well as chronic health conditions.
Many individuals have multiple disabilities and may experience social or medical factors differently depending on their race, gender, culture, language (including sign language for deaf people), nationality, geography and other factors. Each of these sub-populations are complexly impacted with respect to health and requirements for assistance for survival.
With greater vulnerability during storms, floods and extreme heat; susceptibility to invasive disease; and the complex disability-related challenges of relocation and forced migration (i.e. finding new housing or support networks); climate disruptions are harder for these populations at virtually all levels compared to those without disabilities.
The clear evidence from past and current natural disasters and refugee situations shows that people with disabilities have a lower survival rate than those without disabilities, and may even be neglected or left to die. Photo journalism showing the impact of Hurricane Katrina in the southeast US in 2005 documented this with tragic photos of dead people in wheelchairs as crowds of other displaced people streamed by.
Stories of people trapped in flooded nursing homes revealed a lack of planning for people whom disaster preparedness leaders had failed to consider. This was especially brought to the mindset of the disability community in 2015 through Rooted in Rights’ short documentary Right to be Rescued.
Climate change impact is more complex and enduring than natural disasters – and affects people with disabilities in dynamic ways. Examples of health and survival factors include extreme heat harming people with spinal cord injuries who are unable to perspire and will need cooling centers.
Effective communication technologies are necessary for alerting people with hearing impairments on evacuation planning. Ramps into shelters, accessible bathrooms, and feasible evacuation transportation are essential for mobility-impaired persons, including those using respirators, and indeed for anyone unable to safely utilize standard buses.
Another significant impact upon people with disabilities as a consequence of climate change is that of forced migration, now occurring worldwide.
Each of these many consequences must be addressed regarding specific climate change impact on specific individuals and categories of people with disabilities. Of course, everyone is vulnerable in any kind of disaster or environmental degradation.
We know that climate change impact is happening now all over the globe. Adaptation, the advance planning and infrastructure-building in anticipation of impact is particularly crucial for people with disabilities.
Full inclusion of the disability community has emerged as a powerful, world-wide movement of civil and human rights, enacted, over the past six to seven decades through public education and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the United Nations Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD).
Creation of disability inclusion, via specific measures of access and accommodations remove these barriers to participation in the mainstream community. This movement is led by people with disabilities, and supported by our allies: families, service providers, advocates and policy-makers.
Our slogan, “Nothing About Us Without Us!” asserts our insistence in full participation in all planning and activities that affect us.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has greatly encouraged and emboldened people with disabilities around the world to view ourselves as deserving of human rights protection. Full inclusion in climate resilience will be a complex undertaking due to personal, social, economic and political circumstances of this community. Responses will require large-scale initiatives and strong collaborations between stakeholders across the climate justice and disability spectrum.
It is fortunate that those currently addressing climate change and disability, respectively, are well-engaged with a social justice framework. Both groups must understand the scope and complexities between climate change and disability. The key is thus to educate and activate these stakeholders to develop strategies to safeguard the broad, intersectional populations of people with disabilities as climate change unfolds.
The World Institute on Disability has connected with the United Nations, the International Organization on Migration, and local, state and national climate change action groups, to enlist all as meaningful allies. We have participated in actions on climate change in general, and intend to explore broad impact.
We have created a website, given talks and workshops, and published articles, videos and social media releases.
We are enlisting disabled people and our allies as trainers and leaders in climate change mitigation and adaptation activism.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy