The United Nations held an event on Friday to discuss issues affecting the disabled community, ahead of the International Day of People with Disabilities on December 3. Climate change is a topic that is becoming more urgent. “The long-term effects of climate change for persons with disabilities is poorly understood and often overlooked,” said a moderate with
In advance of its International Day of People with Disabilities, which is on December 3, the United Nations held a panel on issues affecting the crippled community on Friday. Climate change is one subject that is becoming more and more essential.
According to a United Nations Youth Office moderator,” the precise long-term effects of climate change on people with disabilities are ill understood and frequently overlooked.”
Disability advocates, some of whom spoke at last year’s COP27 climate summit about how disabled people are harmed by heat waves, floods, and other severe weather events, have spearheaded the effort to get the UN to acknowledge the impact of climate change on impaired individuals. Disabled people encounter difficulties when infrastructure collapses as a result of climate change, such as finding medication, getting to medical care, and leaving their homes properly. One in six people, according to the World Health Organization, have a disability.
Marcie Roth, executive director of the World Institute on Disability and Long Covid’s neighbor, spoke at the panel, saying that people with disabilities “are continuously being left behind and the consequences are devastating.”
According to Roth, some communities have neglected to implement disability-inclusive climate disaster plans, which results in significant harms:” For people with disabilities who are less obvious like me, the impact of disasters and the options for maintaining health, safety, and independence are frequently ignored.”
In 2019, the UN Human Rights Council did issue a resolution urging member nations to implement climate policies that take into account the needs of people with disabilities. However, many nations have n’t followed through. Only 45 state signatories to the historic 2015 Paris Agreement—the UN’s landmark climate change treaty—even mentioned impaired people in their climate policies, according to a report from McGill University and the International Disability Alliance published in 2022. Before its International Day of People with Disabilities, which is on December 3, the United Nations held a panel on issues affecting the crippled community on Friday. Climate change is one subject that is becoming more and more essential. The particular long-term effects of climate change on people with disabilities are ill understood and frequently disregarded, according to a moderator with
The United Nations held an event on Friday to discuss issues affecting the disabled community, ahead of the International Day of People with Disabilities on December 3. Climate change is a topic that is becoming more urgent. “The long-term effects of climate change for persons with disabilities is poorly understood and often overlooked,” said a moderate with
Flooding in Mogadishu, SomaliaFarah Abdi Warsameh/AP. The United Nations hosted a discussion on topics that concern the disabled on Friday in preparation for its International Day of Persons with Disabilities, to occur on December 3. A serious issue coming to the forefront is that of climate change and how it affects persons with disabilities. The UN Youth Office has expressed that a lack of understanding and awareness of the implications of these extreme weather events have a serious and long-term impact on these individuals. Disability rights advocates have been devoted to ensuring the UN acknowledges this matter, leading to significant representation at last year’s COP27, discussing the way in which disabled people experience harm from heat waves, floods, etc. When infrastructure is damaged as a result of a climate event, disabled people experience difficulties such as difficulties acquiring medication, connecting to health care, and evacuating their homes safely. The WHO reports that 16% of the world’s population live with a disability. Marcie Roth, the executive director of the World Institute for Disability, who struggles with Long Covid, spoke at a panel about how they are often excluded from emergency planning and suffer more due to climate disasters. Roth lamented that even those with “less obvious” disabilities are disregarded in terms of safeguarding their health and independence. In 2019, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution requesting that nations put in place climate policies that fulfil the needs of individuals with disabilities. Nevertheless, a lot of countries have not implemented the promises they made. A research project by McGill University and the International Disability Alliance in 2022 revealed that out of the 45 state signatories to the Paris Agreement, which is the UN’s major 2015 climate change treaty, only some of them had taken into account the needs of people with disabilities in their policies.
