Climate activism is growing worldwide, and more and more persons with disabilities speak out. Whilst disability is not necessarily the focus of their advocacy, some of them know firsthand how extreme weather conditions and related disasters can both cause disability and disproportionately affect persons with disabilities. For instance, heatwave-related preterm births and undernutrition can have severe long-term consequences for the physical and cognitive development of young children. Undernutrition is in part a result of poor crops, livestock mortality, and heat-induced food spoilage. For very young children, heat can also cause a loss of appetite. In combination with lack of clean water for drinking and hygiene, it can produce a vicious cycle of poor food intake (nutrients and calories) and the exacerbation of diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria and dengue fever.
Extreme heat can worsen existing health conditions, for example, persons with multiple sclerosis often experience more intense and painful muscle spasms, balance, fatigue, cognitive issues, and changes to vision. Persons with various disabilities, like cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, or spinal cord injuries sweat less and cannot regulate body temperature in heat sufficiently, which can elevate the risk of a heart attack and stroke. Persons with epilepsy are at a higher risk of epileptic seizures. Medications can lose effectiveness or cause overheating, and inadequate housing often leaves those most vulnerable without proper cooling solutions.
Besides that, many persons with visual impairments orient themselves through light perception and echolocation, as BBC Access All podcast presenter Emma Tracey explains: “I normally look at the darkness of objects either side of me to keep myself in a straight line, that’s less easy with sunglasses on, and I don’t wear a hat because it messes up my sound shadows. When I wear a sunhat, with a brim or a peak, that changes the sounds I hear and makes it more difficult to get the information I need from my surroundings.” There is a choice to be made between staying at home, being dependent on assistance, or giving up important sun protection like sunglasses and hats.
Staying at home on the other hand, does not necessarily bring relief as social isolation and mental health struggles can also increase when individuals are forced to remain indoors for extended periods.
There are also hurdles persons with disabilities face when trying to participate in the ‘pro-environmental behaviour’. It is called Eco-ableism, when environmental policies unintentionally create barriers, like banning plastic straws without offering accessible alternatives or designing car-free zones without ensuring accessible public transport. Even within the environmental movement, persons with disabilities often face challenges attending events or accessing resources.
Despite these obstacles, activists like Kera Sherwood-O’Regan, an indigenous woman with a disability from New Zealand, Germán Parodia wheelchair user following a spinal cord injury and a first responder deployed to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, Lucy Mulombi, a grassroots disability-inclusive feminist, and many others are driving change. They remind us that really engaging persons with disabilities and OPDs in climate change and disaster risk reduction negotiations and management is not just a commendable pursuit, it is a critical step toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities.
