Disability Rights in National Climate Policies: Status Report

Released jointly with the International Disability Alliance, this report provides a systematic analysis of the inclusion of persons with disabilities and their rights in the National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and framework climate adaptation policies adopted by State Parties to the Paris Agreement.

The report demonstrates that States are falling far short of their obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights of persons with disabilities in their responses to climate change. A minority of State Parties to the Paris Agreement include persons with disabilities in their NDCs and climate adaptation policies. In cases where disability has been included, it is largely to indicate the vulnerability of persons with disabilities to climate change impacts or to signal the need for their inclusion, without providing concrete measures to protect their rights or enhance their resilience and adaptive capacity. The report sets out a number of key steps that states should take to develop disability-inclusive climate policies.

The appendix to this report provides a compendium of references to disability in our dataset of national climate policies.