Puneet Singhal
Imagine a world where the air you breathe feels heavier with every passing year, where water is no longer a guaranteed resource, and the searing sun threatens more than just your comfort. For many of us, this is a troubling thought. For the disabled community, this is an everyday reality magnified tenfold by the specter of climate change.
The intersection of disability and climate change is not just a niche issue—it’s a global crisis hiding in plain sight. Climate change doesn’t just alter weather patterns; it uproots lives, compromises safety, and erodes basic human rights. And for the world’s largest minority—over a billion people with disabilities—this disproportionate impact is catastrophic.
The Disproportionate Impact on Disabled Communities
Climate change acts as a ruthless “threat multiplier,” amplifying existing inequalities. Let’s explore why the disabled community faces such disproportionate risks:
1. Emergency Evacuations: A Game of Survival
During natural disasters, time is of the essence. But what happens when evacuation shelters are inaccessible, transportation is a logistical nightmare, and emergency information is not available in formats like Braille, sign language, or simple, plain text? A World Bank study revealed a chilling statistic: people with disabilities are four to five times more likely to die during natural disasters compared to those without disabilities. This is not just a gap in preparedness—it’s a systemic failure.
2. Health Complications Intensified
Think about extreme heatwaves. Now imagine living with multiple sclerosis, a condition that worsens with heat, or asthma that’s exacerbated by rising pollution levels. Chronic illnesses are often left out of the climate conversation, yet they are directly impacted by environmental changes. Heat-related illnesses, vector-borne diseases, and respiratory conditions disproportionately affect disabled and chronically ill individuals.
3. Loss of Autonomy
Climate-induced displacements force families and individuals to relocate to shelters or temporary accommodations. These are rarely accessible. Loss of assistive devices like wheelchairs, communication aids, or sensory tools during disasters strips people of their autonomy, making them reliant on systems ill-equipped to support them.
4. Economic Marginalization
The financial cost of climate adaptation—such as retrofitting homes with cooling systems or accessing medical care during extreme weather—is often beyond the reach of disabled individuals who already face higher unemployment rates. Poverty and disability form a vicious cycle that climate change perpetuates.
5. Mental Health Struggles
The climate crisis fuels anxiety, grief, and trauma. For neurodivergent individuals, sudden changes in environment or routine due to climate impacts can be deeply distressing. The emotional toll of witnessing homes destroyed, communities displaced, and futures jeopardized is immeasurable.
A Global Lens: What’s Happening Across the World?
Let’s step into the shoes of someone in rural Bangladesh, where rising sea levels force annual evacuations. For people with disabilities, who rely on family or caregivers, the floods don’t just wash away homes—they dismantle support systems. Or consider wildfires in California. With power outages and smoke-filled air, people with mobility issues or chronic respiratory conditions find themselves trapped in an unfolding nightmare.
Existing Solutions: A Step in the Right Direction
While the challenges are daunting, solutions are beginning to emerge. Let’s take a moment to appreciate what’s already being done:
1. Accessible Disaster Management Plans
Japan leads by example with its emphasis on inclusive disaster preparedness. Community drills often include people with disabilities, ensuring that evacuation procedures cater to everyone.
2. Innovative Early Warning Systems
In the Philippines, early warning systems are designed with disability inclusion in mind, using visual signals, audible alerts, and community-based networks.
3. Local Disability-Inclusive Climate Policies
In the United States, organizations like the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies work to ensure disabled individuals are at the heart of emergency planning.
These initiatives show us that change is possible. But they are still exceptions, not the rule. It’s time to think bigger and act faster.
Future Solutions: A Blueprint for Inclusive Climate Action
If we’re serious about climate justice, inclusivity can’t be an afterthought. Here are actionable recommendations to make climate action accessible:
1. Universal Design in Shelter and Infrastructure
All emergency shelters should adhere to universal design principles, ensuring access for people with mobility, sensory, and cognitive disabilities. This includes ramps, tactile signage, and quiet spaces for neurodivergent individuals.
2. Disability-Inclusive Policymaking
Policymakers must consult with disabled people when designing climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. Nothing about us, without us.
3. Accessible Communication
Disaster alerts should be available in multiple formats—sign language, plain language, text-to-speech, and even pictograms—to reach diverse audiences.
4. Green Assistive Technology
Invest in climate-resilient assistive devices like solar-powered wheelchairs or water-resistant hearing aids to minimize disruption during crises.
5. Financial Support for Adaptation
Introduce subsidies and grants specifically for disabled individuals to retrofit homes, access medical care, or recover from climate-induced losses.
6. Intersectional Climate Advocacy
Environmental organizations must embrace disability inclusion as a core value. This means building alliances with disability rights groups and amplifying the voices of disabled activists.
Enter Green Disability: A Global Movement
This brings me to Green Disability, a community-based initiative I started to address this critical intersection of disability and climate change. Today, we’re a thriving network of over 800 members from around the globe, united by a shared purpose: to ensure climate action leaves no one behind.
Why did I start this? Let me take you back to a sweltering Delhi summer. The heatwave was unrelenting, turning our home into an oven. Our neighborhood faced a water crisis, and my mother, who battles chronic health conditions, suffered immensely. My dyspraxia made basic tasks unbearable. It was a moment of clarity: climate change doesn’t just happen “out there.” It seeps into every corner of life, amplifying inequities for the disabled community.
Through Green Disability, we’re advocating for inclusive policies, raising awareness, and building resilience within disabled communities. We’re fostering a space where lived experiences like mine—like yours—can drive change.
A Call to Action
The era of consequences is upon us. Climate change is no longer a distant threat; it’s a present reality. For the disabled community, it’s a fight for survival, dignity, and justice.
We can no longer afford to ignore the most vulnerable among us. Whether you’re a policymaker, an advocate, or simply someone who cares, you have a role to play. Start by asking yourself: how can I make my climate actions inclusive?
The truth is, climate justice is disability justice. And until we recognize that, we’re fighting only half the battle.
