NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- "As
persons with disabilities, we are 15 per cent of the population
living on this planet. But looking at climate action decisions, you
hardly find our rights and needs being considered," said
Vladimir Cuk, Executive Director of
the International Disability Alliance (IDA). "When disasters such
as floods, cyclones, or heat waves happen, persons with
disabilities are often left out of assistance plans. We see climate
mitigation plans being adopted without considering the consequences
for persons with disabilities. This all means that to climate
decision-makers, we do not exist."
COP26 is going to be different in
many ways for many groups, including for the more than one billion
persons with disabilities worldwide. IDA represents more than 1,100
organizations of persons with disabilities and has obtained
observance status to officially participate at COP26 in Glasgow
next week. IDA is also in the process of creating the Disability
and Climate Action Caucus to unify voices of persons with
disabilities in the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The failure to include persons with disabilities in the world's
efforts to combat the climate crisis has dramatic consequences. Due
to inaccessible disaster preparedness plans, systemic
discrimination, and widespread poverty, people with disabilities
are left behind in relief and response efforts. The impact of
climate change – from rapid onset disasters such as typhoons and
wildfires, to more gradual changes such as droughts, temperature
increases, and sea level rise – have disproportionate effects on
the lives, well-being, and livelihoods of persons with disabilities
all over the world.
One recent example is the report published by Human Rights Watch
documents the higher risk of heat-related illness and death to
persons with disabilities and older people in British Colombia, Canada. This report clearly shows how the lack
of a disability-inclusive approach when designing adaptation
policies and plans leads to the exclusion of persons with
disabilities.
Persons with disabilities may also be adversely affected by
responses to climate change. Policies to reduce carbon emissions,
such as carbon pricing schemes or bans of carbon intensive
products, are often designed without considering the rights,
perspectives, and requirements of the disability community, and do
not address the differential costs and burdens that these changes
may impose on individuals with disabilities.
These types of ableist climate mitigation policies create
barriers for persons with disabilities and reinforce social
inequities. For example, increasing the price of gas to encourage
more frequent use of public transportation would be discriminatory
against persons with disabilities if the public transportation is
not accessible to them.
Like all residents of this planet, persons with disabilities
have a responsibility to play an active role in combating the
climate crisis. But they face many challenges to fulfill this
responsibility. Information on the climate crisis and ways to
address it are not often provided in accessible formats such as
sign language for deaf persons, or plain language for those with
intellectual disabilities. Recycling processes are often
inaccessible for many groups including blind persons.
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.
"Documenting the impact of climate change on persons with
disabilities is one of my priorities," said Gerard Quinn, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. "We need to
show the world how persons with disabilities pay the highest price
for climate-irresponsible policies. Furthermore, persons with
disabilities typically have little opportunity to influence these
policies. This needs to be changed immediately. This is even more
important to the future as we try to build more resilient and
inclusive communities. No climate action would be considered
legitimate and efficient without meaningful participation of
persons with disabilities and their representative
organizations."
The International Disability Alliance
The International Disability Alliance (IDA), established in 1999,
is a network of eight global and six regional organizations of
persons with disabilities (OPDs). IDA members, and their members,
represent over 1,100 OPDs from across 182 countries and the
estimated one billion persons with disabilities worldwide. The 14
members of IDA are: the African Disability Forum (ADF); the ASEAN
Disability Forum (AsDF); the Arab Organization of Persons with
Disabilities (AOPD); Down Syndrome International (DSI); the
European Disability Forum (EDF); Inclusion International (II); the
International Federation of Hard of Hearing People (IFHOH); the
International Federation of Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IFSBH);
the Latin American Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of
Persons with Disabilities and their Families (RIADIS); the Pacific
Disability Forum (PDF); the World Blind Union (WBU); the World
Federation of the Deaf (WFD); the World Federation of the Deafblind
(WFDB); and the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry
(WNUSP).
Media Contact
Elham Youssefian, International
Disability Alliance, +1 (347) 320-8729,
aesmail@ida-secretariat.org
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SOURCE International Disability Alliance