Dear Parties to the Paris Agreement,
We, the undersigned organisations, request your support in the recognition of an official disability constituency in the intergovernmental climate negotiation process.
The climate crisis and the lack of disability inclusion in climate policy have a disproportionate impact on persons with disabilities, an estimated 1.3 billion people (16% of the global population). Climate adaptation must therefore have the principles of universal design and accessibility at its core. This will directly remove many barriers faced by persons with disabilities and will accelerate the process towards a Just Transition for all of society.
Such policy changes require full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in all relevant processes, at local, national, regional and international levels.
We remain deeply concerned that disability is still not recognised as an official constituency within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This is despite good faith efforts made towards this by regional and international Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) and their allies over recent years.
States are obliged to consult with persons with disabilities, through their representative organisations, under Article 4.3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This is respected in other spheres of intergovernmental engagement – for example, disability is one of the Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS) working towards implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the Sendai Framework.
A significant number of organisations are already working on disability inclusion in climate action. This informal coalition represents much of the diversity of disability and covers many regions of the world. It includes OPDs, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that focus on disability inclusion, and other NGOs with climate focus who recognise the need for disability inclusion in their work.
There are currently nine official UNFCCC constituencies (including Women and Gender, Youth, and Indigenous peoples’ organisations). A disability constituency will give persons with disabilities equal opportunity to participate, including making plenary interventions, receiving informal advance information from the UNFCCC Secretariat, and collaborating on an equal basis with the other constituencies.
We firmly believe that ensuring the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in UNFCCC processes will be integral to developing effective global climate solutions and will contribute to building resilient and sustainable societies.
We ask Parties to the Paris agreement to request the UNFCCC to clarify the process of recognition of a disability constituency, and to expedite decisions on this in time for official recognition at COP 29 in Azerbaijan.
Signatories:
- International Disability Alliance
- International Disability and Development Consortium
- African Disability Forum
- Arab Organization Of Persons With Disabilities
- ASEAN Disability Forum
- European Disability Forum
- Latin American Network of NGOs of Persons with Disabilities and their Families (RIADIS)
- Pacific Disability Forum