This week, eight organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) representing both regional and global interests, sent a formal letter to members of the Paris Agreement criticising the exclusion of the disability movement from UN climate negotiations.
The letter stresses that despite years of advocacy by OPDs and their allies, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has yet to officially recognize a disability constituency. Such constituencies already exist for other groups, including women, youth, and Indigenous peoples, and are key to ensuring their participation in vital climate discussions. This delay severely limits the participation of persons with disabilities in shaping climate policies and solutions.
The letter further highlights the importance of establishing this constituency, stating that it would provide persons with disabilities equal opportunities to participate in UNFCCC processes, including making plenary interventions and receiving early information from the UNFCCC Secretariat. It would also enable collaboration on an equal footing with other constituencies, furthering inclusive climate action.
Additionally, the signatories point out that the exclusion of persons with disabilities from these negotiations not only neglects their unique and disproportionate vulnerabilities to climate change but also contradicts international commitments. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) clearly mandates consultation with persons with disabilities through their representative organisations, a standard already upheld in other global frameworks like the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Signatories have called on Parties to the Paris Agreement to act swiftly, requesting the UNFCCC to clarify and expedite the process for the formal recognition of a disability constituency by COP 29, scheduled to take place in Azerbaijan this November.
Signatories of the letter include the International Disability Alliance, as well as regional organisations of persons with disabilities from Africa, the ASEAN region, Europe, Latin America, the Arab region, and the Pacific Islands. The International Disability and Development Consortium also signed the letter.
You can read the letter here.
Signatories of the letter: