December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a good day to put yourself in the shoes of someone with a disability. Imagine for a second that you are in a wheelchair in Florida and Hurricane Helene hits. Imagine you are blind in Nigeria during extreme flooding. Or imagine you have a disability that people can’t see, like diabetes, and because there is a heat wave, your blood sugar levels are seriously out of balance. The bottom line is that if you are a person with a disability, the impacts of climate change are significantly more challenging and dangerous for you.

And we are not talking about a small group of people here. More than one in six of us, 16% of the world’s population or 1.3 billion people, have a disability, whether it is a challenge with mobility, a hearing or visual impairment, a mental health disorder, or a chronic illness. “Persons with disabilities are the largest minority group in the world,” says Amina Audu, a Nigerian disability activist and lecturer in education at the Federal University Gusau. As a child, Amina’s spinal cord was severely damaged in a car accident. There was not a single rehabilitation hospital in Nigeria focused specifically on spinal cord injuries — and there still isn’t one — so with some government assistance, she was sent to England for treatment.

80% of people with disabilities live in the global south, where they are particularly vulnerable to severe climate events, Amina explains. “We are having issues with climate change, in terms of our mobility, in terms of the emergencies, … in terms of our health. For example, people with spinal cord injuries when the heat is very high, our bodies do not regulate body temperatures.”

How Extreme Climate Events Affect People With Disabilities
Climate change affects persons with physical and mental disabilities in a wide variety of ways. During many climate emergencies, people with disabilities often have limited access to critical medical care, including treatments like drugs and supplemental oxygen. And if the power goes down, everything from operating a battery-powered wheelchair to a life-saving ventilator for a child suddenly becomes impossible. Overall, people with disabilities are two to four times more likely to die in climate emergencies.

People with many chronic illnesses like asthma, autoimmune diseases, and diabetes are more vulnerable to poor air quality, water-related illnesses, and heat exposure. “So many people with disabilities are on medication and … we know that there is an interaction between heat and medication which can make medication less effective or make them more vulnerable again to experiencing things like heat stroke,” explains Australian emergency physician and public health medical consultant Dr. Kimberly Humphrey. 

Among the medications that make people more sensitive to heat are some psychiatric medications. Extreme heat can also make people more depressed or irritable and may exacerbate existing conditions or bring on new mental health illnesses. In British Columbia, researchers found that people with schizophrenia had a three-fold increase in death during a heat dome in 2021.

Despite people with disabilities being among the most vulnerable during a climate disaster, specific plans for them are often not built into public emergency response systems. “Our systems are not designed for people who are anything other than able-bodied generally, and anything we do is a tack-on,” says Dr. Humphrey, who is working to change that in Australia.

A Seat At The Table
Even though people with disabilities are more at risk from climate events, they are often left out of climate change and adaptation discussions. At the international level, many climate events, like the United Nations Conference Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or COP as it is commonly known, don’t formally include representation of people with disabilities. Amina, who has attended the last three COPs with private support, is =asking for an official seat at the table. “The lack of formal representation hinders the inclusion of disability perspectives in climate policies. It’s crucial for the UNFCCC and member countries to recognize the unique vulnerabilities and contributions of persons with disabilities in the context of climate change. Establishing a disability constituency would be a significant step toward ensuring that climate actions are inclusive and equitable.”

Amina Adu, Nigerian disability activist and lecturer in education at the Federal University Gusau. Image: Jason Hayes

Planting Hope
Back in Nigeria, Amina is working to drive change. She founded the Rebuilding Hope on Wheels Initiatives to support her community.  “People with disabilities need to start recognizing that even though they are more vulnerable, they can also be part of the solution, explains Amina. “We need to build the capacity of more advocates. The more advocates we have, the more voices.”

One disability advocate that the Rebuilding Hope On Wheels Initiatives is supporting is Dalhatu, a young man from Nigeria’s Adamawa state, where there has been significant environmental damage caused by trees being cut down for firewood. Dalhatu has not let his spinal cord injury stand in the way of fighting climate change. Dalhatu and his team, from a private nursery of over 1,000 seedlings, plant fruit-bearing trees across various higher institutions in Adamawa State. The trees provide shade, reduce heat, and provide food to his community.

Joining Forces
Amina also joins forces with other health leaders in Nigeria, such as Musculoskeletal Health Professor Adesola Odole. Together, they are conducting research in six Nigerian states on the effects of climate change on people with disabilities. Professor Odole says, “People like me, who are healthcare professionals who have been having conversations, interactions, and engagements with persons with disabilities, we should begin to promote sustainable initiatives.” 

Putting words into action, Professor Odole has created special seminars on climate and disability for her current physical therapy students. She is optimistic about the future. “This is a community of young, energetic students willing to be voice amplifiers for climate change and the intersection with health and disability.”

Nothing Without Us
The phrase “Nothing Without Us” has become a rallying cry among global disability activists. Amina says: “Disability cannot remain a mere mention or a checkbox in discussions. Persons with disabilities have the right to have our voices heard, respected, and dignified.” 

Those voices will be raised at the Global Disabilities Summit in Berlin in 2025, focusing on disability-inclusive development, particularly in the global south. The International Disability Alliance and the Governments of Germany and Jordan will co-host the Summit. It will bring together leaders, representatives of organizations of persons with disabilities, and other civil society organizations to turn promises into action and ensure disability inclusion is at the heart of global change.

To ensure equitable lives for all, we need to take action not just at the Summit but also by calling on leaders to commit to bringing persons with disabilities into all global climate change and adaptation conversations as well as to champion inclusive development and the full implementation of their rights.