#COP26: Promoting inclusive climate action

CBM UK and CBM Global will be joining Disability Movement and civil society partners at #COP26, the UN climate conference in Glasgow, to ensure that disability inclusion is not overlooked. People with disabilities, especially those living in poverty, are among those hardest hit by the climate crisis and must be meaningfully included in responses to it.

COP26 is the annual UN climate conference, or “Conference of Parties”. Leaders of the 197 countries that are part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will meet in Glasgow from 31 October–12 November 2021. They will discuss how the world’s nations can best keep global temperature rises below dangerous levels and prevent the climate crisis from causing even greater damage for the world’s poorest people. They will negotiate ongoing commitments to tackle what is one of the greatest issues this planet faces.

As well as aiming to influence the negotiations, CBM UK and CBM Global will be joining the wider civil society discussion to promote inclusion and offer practical suggestion for how climate adaptation and resilience measures can be more inclusive and incorporate proper consideration of mental wellbeing.

Disability and the Climate Crisis

We’re already seeing an increase in frequency and severity of humanitarian crises like floods, hurricanes and droughts due to climate change, and this will continue to worsen.

People with disabilities are more likely to live in areas prone to disasters because they are more likely to be poor. When natural disasters strike, they are four times more likely to die than people without disabilities. The greatest threat and burden of climate change will fall on the world’s poorest people – who have done the least to cause it. 

COP26 event: An Inclusive Planet: Inclusion, Mental Health and Climate Change

Join our side event on 5^th November, 15.30-17.30 – click here to register to join online (open link in new tab). 

Climate-affected communities and experts in climate change and inclusion will demonstrate why national and international climate change action must incorporate the participation of persons with disabilities.

CBM Global’s Mental Health Director, Julian Eaton, will be speaking about his new paper, which launched on World Mental Health Day and highlights what we’ve learnt about inclusive approaches to climate change mitigation and resilience-building.

We will offer practical suggestions for how climate adaptation and resilience measures (including disaster risk reduction and response) can be more inclusive, and incorporate proper consideration of mental wellbeing.

Read more about the green zone at COP26 and register here.

In Glasgow? Visit our #COP26 stall

Come and visit the CBM team at our #COP26 green zone stall to talk about disability, climate change and practical examples of inclusion in climate response.

Find us in the Clyde Suite, Glasgow Science Centre on 6 & 7 November.        

Read more about disability, climate change and our work on #InclusiveClimateAction at CBMuk.org.uk/climate

Image: 62-year-old Ezekiel prepares a rainwater channel near his home in a food-insecure area of Chiredzi, Zimbabwe. He has received support from CBM-partner Jairos Jiri Association, including a new wheelchair, two goats, chickens and access to community gardens. ©CBM/Hayduk