Resources
A compilation of reports, scholarship, and commentary on the relationship between disability and climate change.
Government & Intergovernmental Reports
Nick Watts et al., “Strengthening Health Resilience to Climate Change,” a technical briefing for the World Health Organization, August 2015.
United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Climate Change and the Health of People with Disabilities,” May 2016.
Maria Kett & Ellie Cole, “Disability and Climate Resilience Research Report,” report for the Department for International Development, Government of the United Kingdom, May 2018.
United Nations Human Rights Council, Resolution 41/21 (A/HRC/RES/41/21), July 2019.
International Labour Organization, “Persons with Disabilities in a Just Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy,” October 2019.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Analytical study on the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of climate change,” July 2020.
United Nations Human Rights Council, Panel discussion on the rights of persons with disabilities in the context of climate change (A/HRC/46/46), July 2020.
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights. “Frequently Asked Questions on Human Rights and Climate Change,” 2021.
IDMC (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre), UNHCR’s (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) office for the Special Advisor on Climate Action, IDA (International Disability Alliance), “Disability, Displacement and Climate Change,” factsheet, June 2021.
Civil Society Reports
David Lewis & Keith Ballard, “Disability and Climate Change. Understanding vulnerability and building resilience in a changing world,” CBM, 2012.
Alex Ghenis, “Climate Change, Migration and People with Disabilities,” WID, 2015.
Fred Smith et al., “Disability and Climate Resilience,” a literature review by the Disability and Climate Resilience research project, April 2017.
Alyssa Gutnik & Marcie Roth, “Disability and Climate Change: How climate-related hazards increase vulnerabilities among the most at risk populations and the necessary convergence of inclusive disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation,” Humanity & Inclusion, 2018.
John Twigg, Maria Kett, and Emma Lovell, “Disability inclusion and disaster risk reduction,” a briefing note by the Overseas Development Institute, July 2018.
Access it here
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), and Inclusiva, “The Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Context of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,” December 2019.
Mary Keogh and Maria Paula Acuna Gonzalez, “Climate Change: This Century’s Defining Issue,” a working paper by CBM Global, July 2020.
International Disability Alliance. “Disability, Displacement and Climate Change.” April 2021.
Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network, “Issue paper and Guide to promoting disability-inclusive climate change,” 2021.
Canada: Disastrous Impact of Extreme Heat - Failure to Protect Older People, People with Disabilities in British Columbia. Human Rights Watch. October 2021.
Spannagel, Ellen. “Record Canada Heat Harms Older People and People with Disabilities. Climate Crisis Requires Inclusive Heat Action, Planning, and Response. July 2021.
DICARP, IDA, and GLAD, “Towards COP26: Enhancing Disability Inclusion in Climate Action,” October 2021.
Kelly Cox and People with Disability Australia, “The Impact of Climate Change & Natural Disasters on Disabled People in Australia,” June 2022.
Scholarship
For an updated annotated bibliography, click here.
Media Commentary
Jason Strother, “For Filipinos with disabilities, climate change and natural disasters are a dangerous mix,” The World, 13 July 2018.
Alice Wong, “The Last Straw,” Eater, 19 July 2018.
Jacquelyn LeBel, “Expert raises disability concerns over proposed single-use plastics ban,” Global News, 12 June 2019.
Julia Watts Belser, “Disabled People Cannot Be ‘Expected Losses’ in the Climate Crisis,” Timeout, 20 September 2019.
Hannah Dines, “The climate revolution must be accessible – this fight belongs to disabled people too,” The Guardian, 15 October 2019.
Imani Barbarin, “Climate Darwinism Makes Disabled People Expendable,” Forbes, 2 November 2019.
Sarah Kim, “Is It Too Late That The Impact of Climate Change On People With Disabilities Is Getting Discussed Only Now?” Forbes, 13 November 2019.
“Inclusion of persons with disabilities in a just transition towards a sustainable economy,” International Labour Organization, 18 June 2021.
Peter Kostishack and Yolanda Muñoz, “How Funders Can Address Ableism in the Environmental Justice Movement,” Global Greengrants Fund, 9 August 2021.
Don Pittis, “The 'tragedy of the commons' and why it is helping to scorch our planet,” CBC, 11 August 2021.
“Saskatchewan Weekend with Shauna Powers: The impact of climate change on people with disabilities,” CBC Listen podcast, 4 September 2021.
Gabrielle Peters, “Alone In The Dome: Disabled People, Many Poor, Struggled to Survive B.C.’s Fatal Heat Wave,” The Maple, 5 September 2021.
David Flier, “Tormentas, sequías y calor extremos: ¿quién piensa en las personas con discapacidad cuando se idea una adaptación al cambio climático?” RED/ACCIÓN, 8 November 2021.
Organizations Active on Disability and Climate Change
This list of resources is updated on a rolling basis. Please send any suggestions of papers, reports, or organizations that are relevant to the relationship between disability and climate change via email at: dicarp.law@mcgill.ca.