Why focus on disability inclusion in climate finance?
Climate change shocks disproportionally affect persons with disabilities whose resilience capacity is limited. According to WHO, there are one billion persons with disabilities, and over 80 percent of them live in developing countries. Moreover, disability is becoming more prevalent because of chronic diseases, an aging population, ongoing conflicts, and COVID-19. In the events of climate shocks and disasters, persons with disabilities have less access to emergency response services and safety nets. They have a higher risk of being displaced without proper assistance and support and have less resources and opportunities to migrate. And disabled women are even more at risk than disabled men: during disaster recovery, they face more economic and social isolation.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) guarantees the rights of persons with disabilities in access to services, jobs, and social protection. The CRPD defines “disability” as a result of an interaction between the health condition of an individual and social and environmental factors, such as inaccessible infrastructure and services and negative social attitudes. Such an approach places the responsibility on the government and the society to remove the barriers faced by the persons with disabilities, by ensuring universal design of infrastructure and services to be usable by all people and reasonable accommodation.
CRPD also establishes the right of persons with disabilities to participate in the design of policies that affect them. Implementation of this principle in relation to climate action has been limited to date. Only 35 of 192 state parties to the Paris Agreement refer to persons with disabilities in their National Adaptation Plans, and only 14 have some activities targeting them. COP26 was the first COP when persons with disabilities gained an official status as a caucus recognized by the UN Secretariat. COP27 was more inclusive – more persons with disability were able to participate and more disability-focused side events were convened. The main decision as well as the action plan for climate empowerment mentioned persons with disabilities for the first time. Climate investments represent a unique opportunity to incorporate the principles of disability inclusion among the core tenets of just transitions and green growth strategies.
“Nothing About Us Without Us” Principle – The Need for Proactive Engagement And Two-Way Dialogue
Engagement with persons with disability is crucial for climate action. Well-intentioned responses to climate change could exacerbate exclusion of persons with disabilities, if formulated without their inputs. Persons with disabilities and Organizations for Persons with Disabilities (OPD) often have unique insights into access, flexibility, and interdependence of services and infrastructure that can add value to project activities. Engagement with OPDs needs to be based on partnership models, with clear mechanisms for incorporating feedback received into decision making on project design. Dedicated resources are needed to ensure that venues, accommodation, transportation, information and communication materials, online platforms and events are accessible, and offered in different formats to accommodate various types of disabilities.
Accessibility in the Energy and Infrastructure Sectors
Persons with disabilities often have greater reliance on energy and public infrastructure, while facing additional barriers to access. The UN estimates that less than 50 percent of households with persons with disabilities have access to energy, while they often have fewer financial resources to cover energy bills. More than 1 billion people need at least one form of assistive technology, so energy disruptions could place them in life-threatening situations. Subsidized electricity rates, adaptation of clean energy devices, and backups for uninterrupted supply are essential to ensure accessibility. Any new infrastructure should adhere to universal design principles. This does not necessarily mean increasing the costs. Accessibility adaptations are often low cost and benefit other vulnerable populations such as elderly, parents with strollers and persons with temporary mobility and health limitations. Business models that empower persons with disabilities as consumers to make them active participants in demand-side management need to be prioritized. Preferences for enterprises led by persons with disabilities or employing significant share of workers with disabilities should be considered throughout the energy value chain in the transition to renewable energy.
Inclusive Green Jobs
Proactive approaches are required to increase the share of persons with disability in green jobs. The global employment ratio for persons with disabilities is 36 percent, compared with 60 percent in the case of the population without disabilities. Persons with disabilities are more likely to have higher levels of both unemployment and poverty, and limited access to education and healthcare, preventing them from accessing and contributing to green jobs. Moreover, once in employment, persons with disabilities face obstacles such as a lack of promotion and relegation to low-paid or part-time jobs. As climate change further exacerbates their exclusion, their prospects of accessing new green jobs are minimal, despite lighter physical workload anticipated in some sectors due to use of technology. Employers need to develop more proactive strategies for identifying and recruiting candidates with disabilities, providing workplace accommodations, flexible working conditions and ensuring inclusive working culture. Health insurance benefits are important to help keep people acquiring disability in the labor force. Readiness of persons with disabilities could be increased through dedicated programs and internships to study STEM subjects, as well as support with transition from education to labor market through internship opportunities, counseling, on the job support.
CIF’s Commitment To Disability Inclusion
To advance this agenda, Climate Investment Funds (CIF), as part of our vision for inclusive and just climate-smart future is developing the "Disability Inclusion Framework." The framework is being developed through an inclusive and consultative process, and engagement with various stakeholders, including multilateral development banks (MDBs), Organizations of Persons with Disabilities, Climate Activists and UN partners. The framework will build on three inter-related pillars. First, we will engage and dialogue with organizations of persons with disabilities. Then, we will work with the MDBs and other stakeholders to coproduce technical knowledge to mainstream disability inclusion during the design and implementation of CIF-financed projects. Finally, we will increase the accessibility of CIF’s events, publications and processes.
And here’s a concrete example: today, you are reading this article on a newly launched CIF website that has been designed to meet accessibility standards.
Climate Investment Funds
Nina Kolybashkina, is Senior Social Development Specialist with Climate Investment Funds. Nina’s role involves actively driving the gender mainstreaming agenda, ensuring that considerations of gender are integrated across initiatives. With over two decades of experience in developmental work, Nina’s expertise spans areas such as social inclusion, gender, rural development, water management, and resilience. Nina started her career with UNDP Ukraine, developing and coordinating a portfolio of community-based projects. She also worked with UN countries as an M&E consultant and as lecturer on social policy at Brunel University in the UK. Nina holds a PhD and MSc in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford, and a Specialist Degree in Economics and Finance from Tavrida National University in Ukraine.
World Bank Group