In my last blog, I gave an intro to climate change, its impacts, and a few ways that people with disabilities (PWDs) are affected by those impacts. Now that we know the basics, the big question facing us is: how do we ensure the health and safety of PWDs in an equitable manner? That’s the basis of our work, and it is a moral imperative.
As far as climate policy goes, most of the discussion these days is about mitigation, or slowing down climate change itself. This will benefit everyone but won’t magically make climate change go away, and certainly won’t fix the uneven impacts of climate change itself. That’s why we must address adaptation – preparing for what’s on the way through policies, institutional actions, and engaging the public at-large. Adaptation also gives a great opportunity to build more equitable systems, including for disability equity. So we can direct resources to the places and people most affected by climate impacts, to the communities who will need the most support to adapt, and to people with specialized needs during adaptation. People with disabilities disproportionately fall into these buckets, and many PWDs are in all three.
Now, disability-equitable adaptation isn’t as easy as saying “as you adapt, make sure it’s universally accessible.” That’s because climate change is complex, disability is complex, and accessibility is complex. Everything can still be under the umbrellas of climate change and disability rights – but the actions we take depend on what we are adapting for, the local context, target populations, existing inequities, and ideal outcomes.
The general steps I recommend in this process are:
- Identify the scale and scope of the disability rights barriers and opportunities, and do a demographic analysis if need be. This includes your target disability categories (whether “disability” in general or a more specific group), geographic area, and timeframe of concern (which could be indefinite, depending on your work).
- Identify the climate impacts in the area of concern. This includes primary impacts, such as increased heat waves, and secondary impacts, such as power outages (from everybody running their air conditioning and overwhelming the grid). Impacts farther down-the-line could include things like migration, shrinking government revenue, or conflict.
- Consider the effects on the built environment, and the resulting impacts on disability access, services, and general equity. This can be for any level of climate impact. For example, the power outages from heat waves could endanger somebody who uses a wall-powered ventilator for breathing. Conflict raises human rights concerns for marginalized groups, including PWDs.
- Identify shortcomings and areas of need. Approach this using the social model wherever possible – so consider, what are the existing barriers to access and equity and what shortcomings might there be with upcoming climate changes?
- Develop inclusive resilience and reinforcement actions. Examine those shortcomings and barriers, consult with the disability community and experts, and design an inclusive and equitable adaptation strategy.
Here are two examples at different scales:
First off, an action at the broad level could be something like this (pardon the technocratic language):
The United States is doing a large climate assessment, then developing a plan for where to adapt and how. Management hires at least one disability policy and outreach specialist, and ensures that all proceedings are fully accessible (e.g. with closed captioning as needed). Project staff consult with the disability community and specific constituencies (such as people with physical disabilities, intellectual/developmental disabilities, or those who are blind/low vision), both through policy/advocacy groups and public forums. Officials convey these concerns and experiences in their reports, while limiting the classical framework of PWDs as a “vulnerable group” simply because of their medical conditions. Instead, they identify and challenge the structural barriers to access and equity in the face of climate change. The report also addresses intersectionality – so sections on disability mention barriers and oppression for women with disabilities, people of color (POC) with disabilities, and so on; while sections on racial equity note that rates of disability are higher among POC and disability can create additional inequities in addition to those already faced by able-bodied POC.
Officials then identify areas where the US can support equitable adaptation. The report emphasizes universal accessibility and equity in every possible section, then goes into more granular detail where it’s appropriate. For example, sections on disaster response could address warnings, evacuation and shelter (among other things), while a section on extreme heat events could emphasize access to air conditioning and financial assistance for electric bills. Anecdotes provide examples of intersectionality and detailed scenarios in ways that are easy to digest and can inspire planners moving forward. The report should recommend pursuing universal access (beyond existing legal requirements), engaging the disability community (using the theme of “nothing about us, without us”) and respecting both human and civil rights in times of crisis. The report includes resources and appendices as needed.
So that’s broad-level planning that also includes the opportunity for detail. How in-depth can that detail go? It depends on the scope of the project, the relation to climate change, and what segment of the disability community is to be addressed.
Consider this example of something more in-depth:
In a large coastal city, officials are putting together a long-term plan for managing rising sea levels. They know that there are dozens of residential buildings at risk of regular flooding by 2035. In response, the city will pursue planned relocation for the roughly 3000 people who live in those buildings over the course of 10 years. City staff reach out to residents to raise awareness, and soon begin a series of surveys and community forums to shape the 10-year strategy.
In the first survey, staff ask if residents have any disability-related housing concerns, whether around physical access or cost (such as for PWDs on fixed income like SSI). At the community forums, which are streamed live on the city website, staff hire American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and a closed-captioning specialist, so communications are fully accessible. Staff also host a disability-specific forum for residents, inviting disability organizations like the local Independent Living Center, so residents can connect with other community advocates. Staff commit to engaging with local disability organizations and residents throughout the 10-year process.
In the end, staff find that 500 of the 3000 residents have some sort of disability-related housing concern. The concerns are mostly about physical access, closeness to transportation and services, and affordability. The city hires a specialist to assist each of those 500 residents find a new home, with the right accessibility features and a good location, and relocate safely. The project also secures funding for housing retrofits and subsidies, so people can live in homes that are as accessible and affordable as the ones they left behind. A final report includes an appendix on how staff included PWDs: this is useful for the city going forward and can serve as a resource for other cities adapting to rising tides.
Conclusion
Given the diversity and intersectionality of disability, plus the complex set of climate impacts, this topic can be approached from any number of angles. The biggest key is to include the disability community in the conversation around climate adaptation. From the disability activist end, we can identify any number of issues in society and figure out how they are connected to climate change; we can then understand how climate change might affect those issues in the future; and we must always stay vigilant and engaged for truly inclusive climate adaptation.