As COP29 advances, a critical opportunity surfaces to bridge a persistent gap in climate policy: addressing the unique vulnerabilities of people with disabilities
By Anjuman Tanha, Action on Poverty
Over one billion people worldwide live with disabilities, with 80% residing in low- and middle-income countries. For communities already marginalised, such as those in flood-prone regions of Bangladesh or drought-stricken areas of East Africa, climate change multiplies existing inequalities, creating cycles of deprivation and exclusion. This reality underlines a flaw in current climate policy and practice, which too often treat disability inclusion as a checklist item rather than a dynamic challenge requiring nuanced, intersectional solutions.
The statistics illustrate the urgency. Research from The Lancet Planetary Health estimates that children with disabilities born in 2020 will face five times as many climate-related disasters over their lifetimes compared to those born in 1960. Despite these alarming projections, around 81% of national climate pledges under the Paris Agreement have not considered disability in their nationally determined contributions, indicating a neglect in acknowledging the rights of people with disability.
COP29 therefore presents an opportunity to address this urgent issue. As heads of state, delegates, and stakeholders negotiate climate financing mechanisms, it is now critical for them to place people with disabilities and their intersecting identities at the forefront. By adopting an intersectional approach that considers overlapping identities such as socioeconomic status, sexual identity, age and ethnicity, policymakers can design climate-adaptation policies that genuinely address the needs of people with disabilities. Climate finance must prioritise the voices of organisations of people with disabilities (OPDs) to ensure policies safeguard those most affected by the climate crisis.
My experiences from Sylhet: How flooding impacts disability services in the context of climate change
My reflections on the intersection of disability and climate change stem from personal observations during a visit to Sylhet, Bangladesh last year. This trip was part of Action On Poverty’s (AOP) monitoring visit to Walk for Life Bangladesh, a project which supports young children with clubfoot through critical treatment and rehabilitation services. Sylhet, situated in northeastern Bangladesh, faces frequent flash floods and seasonal inundation. In 2022, flash floods submerged 90% of Sylhet’s area, highlighting how climate change intensifies such events. For families with disabled children, each flood season exacerbates overlapping vulnerabilities and restricts access to healthcare and amplifying financial strain.
During the interviews, project participants shared how transformative the treatment was for their children’s mobility, but also expressed their frustration with unmet healthcare needs during the rainy season when flooded roads cut off access to essential services like cast changes and physiotherapy. In speaking with me, Nadim Hasan’s mother shared the immense challenges she faces as a single parent caring for her 5-year-old son, who is a clubfoot patient. With her husband working abroad, she must manage everything on her own. She described the difficulties of crossing flooded roads, which prevented her from reaching the clinic for Nadim’s cast changes. The project’s parent counsellor also confirmed that extreme weather events not only disrupt care but also destabilise families financially, with some families dropping out of their treatment leading to the clubfoot relapse of their child.
This local challenge mirrors the well documented global crisis. Research shows that people with disabilities face heightened risks during climate-related disasters due to systemic barriers and inaccessible infrastructure. The UN Report on Climate Change and Disability states that disabled individuals experience disproportionately high mortality rates during disasters as they lack access to evacuation routes, shelters, and emergency services. Japan’s 2011 earthquake is a fitting example where people with disabilities were twice as likely to die compared to the population without disability, and many who reached evacuation centres faced inaccessible facilities and inadequate information and medications. Furthermore, people with disabilities often lack access to early-warning systems and evacuation plans, limiting their ability to escape safely. For instance, 60% of people with disabilities in Vanuatu lacked emergency information before Tropical Cyclone Pam in 2015, compared to 47% of individuals with no disability.
Reflecting on these case studies and personal experiences has deepened my understanding of the layered difficulties people with disabilities face in extreme climate events. The needs within the disability community vary widely, shaped by multiple intersecting identities e.g. socio-economic status, descent, sexual orientation, and caregiving responsibilities. So how therefore can climate policy address these diverse, intersecting identities to make disability inclusion meaningful and responsive?
Moving beyond compliance: The need for an intersectionality approach in climate action
In disability inclusion, it’s easy to fall into the mindset that accessibility is a box to check, a task that feels complete once compliance standards are met. True inclusion, however, requires an intersectional approach that addresses the vulnerabilities stemming from the intersection of disability and other identities, especially in the context of climate change.
Intersectionality, a critical feminist theory developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 within the Black feminist movement, provides a lens to analyse how systems of oppression perpetuate inequities. Intersectionality approach enhances our understanding of ways the interconnectedness among the gender, disability, race, and cultural factors frame our daily experiences and social institutions. This phenomenon can be witnessed in Australia, a well resourced setting where I currently live. Studies reveal in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, 26% of the Aboriginal population reside in regions experiencing seven or more extreme heatwave days each year, significantly higher than the 9% recorded for non-Aboriginal populations. The health of Aboriginal people in NSW is jeopardised not only by their place of residence in high-risk areas but also by a deep-rooted distrust in the government services, stemming from colonial legacies and a lack of culturally responsive care. These challenges are even more pronounced for Aboriginal people with disabilities, who constitute a significant 24% of the Aboriginal population in the state. A 2016 study by the University of Sydney and Southern Cross University found that Aboriginal clients often perceive disability services as shaped by a Western scientific biomedical model, which clashes with their cultural values. Furthermore, participants expressed disappointment at being grouped with migrants and non-native English speakers, viewing this as discriminatory and dismissive of their unique historical experiences and the prevailing impacts of colonisation.
This focus on intersectionality approach aligns with the broader principles of the disability justice movement, which advocates for accessibility and transformative social change addressing the full scope of inequities faced by disabled people. Intersectionality is central to disability justice. As policymakers adopt the Disability Justice framework in their climate action policymaking, they must acknowledge the interdependence, and forces of oppression, and move beyond traditional views of disability to address ableism, racism, sexism, and other systemic discrimination. Through this acknowledgement we will be better equipped to shift the disability justice movement from a single-issue discourse centring on rights and co-develop an enabling environment to access and avail the rights.
Adopting an intersectional approach in climate policy, therefore, is not just about compliance but about a commitment to addressing the diverse realities within disability communities. By drawing on disability justice principles, climate policies can move beyond surface-level solutions, creating strategies that empower and protect the most marginalised.
COP29: A catalyst for inclusive climate action
From Bangladesh, where I grew up witnessing firsthand the acute risks faced by disabled individuals during each flood season, to Australia, where I currently reside and observe similar gaps in a developed context, challenges encountered by people with disability are clearly global and multifaceted. At COP29 in Baku, there’s a significant opportunity to make climate finance more inclusive and intersectional. Policymakers need creative solutions, whether through private sector involvement, carbon market enhancements, or expanding access to the Loss and Damage Fund. Climate finance must reflect the diverse needs of disability communities and bridge gaps between developed and developing nations. Adaptation funding should incorporate disability justice values, ensuring resources reach those facing multiple, overlapping risks.
By pursuing inclusivity as a core principle, COP29 can mark a turning point in advancing climate resilience strategies that not only protect but empower those most affected. This commitment will lay the foundation for a future that is inclusive, equitable, and sustainable for all.