A Global Cry for Inclusion: Disability Rights & the Climate Crisis
- Nesha Abiraj
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
"If I, a person who has lived his entire life with cerebral palsy can become an advocate for urgent climate action, is it too much to ask able bodied persons to do the same? Is it too much to ask world leaders and the world’s largest polluters, who are profiteering regardless of the consequences to planet and people, to do the same?"
OP-ED
Co-Authors Kevin Sinanan and Nesha Abiraj
27th September, 2025
Climate change affects everyone, but people with disabilities face unique and often overlooked challenges. I was born with cerebral palsy, a condition which confined me to a wheelchair for my entire life. The climate crisis is upon us and the challenges I face not just as a person with a disability but as someone residing in a small island developing state in the Caribbean is becoming increasingly intense and dangerous.
In October 2018, during the Atlantic Hurricane Season, Trinidad and Tobago received a full month's worth of rain in two days, flooding 80% of the country including the community and surrounding roads, where I reside. This is a pattern that is increasing in frequency, as global temperatures rise.
Looking on as the water began to rise, my older brother rushed to my aid and began pushing me on my wheelchair through the flood waters on the road to secure my safety first. He also had to rush to the aid of our uncle, to help him secure some of his belongings from becoming ravaged by flood waters. My brother did not want to risk me being at home alone amid the relentless torrential rainfall and violent winds. In that moment I realized that my being physically challenged meant there was not much I could do physically to help myself or those around me. Were it not for my family, I could have easily been left behind to a range of unknown dangers.
I realized I was both lucky on the one hand, that I live on the ground level of my brother's house to easily get to safety, but were flood waters to breach that level of the house as it did in many parts of the country, it could have been my life, safety, well-being, my belongings and everything I have ever worked for at risk. Having a disability should never determine whether you live or die during extreme weather events and/ or in its aftermath.
According to the United Nations, people with disabilities are up to 2 to 4 times more likely to die during extreme weather disasters than those persons without disabilities. This is not surprising, given that globally, persons with disabilities are also least likely to have access to emergency information on evacuation procedures and they are among those least likely to access humanitarian aid. Further, health facilities and services are also largely inaccessible.
There are approximately 52,244 persons with disabilities in my home country of Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ("CRPD"), but the rights meant to be conferred under the CRPD is not fully reflected and realized by national and international laws. My country is among small island states highly vulnerable to extreme weather events.
As the climate crisis worsens, I ask what about those 1.5 billion persons who may not be able to evacuate in time or do not have anyone to help them safely evacuate or reach higher ground? Older persons and the infirm face similar challenges. Current national and international policies fail to ensure our full participation in all aspects of society and as such the voice of the disabled community continues to being overlooked and excluded from decisions and policies and that affect our future.
Additionally, extreme weather events increases the risk of forced displacement, yet there is no legal pathway for climate refugees to seek asylum and even within these paradigms persons with disabilities are rarely consulted. Further, persons with disabilities are among those least likely to be able to safely evacuate and receive any kind of humanitarian aid. More often than not we are left behind in emergencies.
I ask, does having a disability, make my community less human and less deserving in climate emergencies? Does it mean that we should be treated without dignity and respect, because our exclusion from these critical lifesaving discussions and actions represents just that – it is an indignity and a disrespect to the rights of persons with disabilities everywhere. Representation within our community on the global, regional and local stages continue to be the exception and not the norm. This must change if we are to have any semblance of hope for our future. Regardless of whether you have a disability or not, we all have a responsibility to advocate for the protection and inclusion of disability rights and the rights of elderly persons.
In the immortal words of my former primary school motto, The Princess Elizabeth Special School, "It is the ability and not the disability that counts." We all have the ability to effect change. If I, a person who has lived his entire life with cerebral palsy can become an advocate for urgent climate action, is it too much to ask able bodied persons to do the same? Is it too much to ask world leaders and the world’s largest polluters, who are profiteering regardless of the consequences to planet and life, to do the same?
My hope and greatest goals are to have governments around the world read stories like mine, and be motivated to take swift climate action as follows:
1. World leaders must take urgent climate action to cut global emissions to ensure global temperature rise does not go beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius. Temperature rise beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius means grave health implications especially for vulnerable communities like mine. Beyond 1.5 degrees may very well equate to handing down a death sentence for vulnerable communities like mine;
2. Integrate and adopt the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into national and regional laws. If the Convention has been ratified already, then there must be stronger efforts and strong political will to ensure these laws are implemented and enforced;
3. Map the location and/or establish zones where persons with disabilities can be located for emergencies. As a member of this community I can personally attest that it requires extra time to be evacuated, secure belongings and basic essentials for health, hygiene and well-being. Early warning systems also reduce the risk of harm to our safety and to our right to life;
4. Integrate the right to a safe and healthy environment into national, regional and international laws. Inadequate law and policies continue to be a barrier to accessing climate justice;
5.Include persons with disabilities at the policy making table when drafting their disaster preparedness laws and policies. We are the only ones who can authentically speak to what are our specific needs are and what it means to be a person with a disability facing climate disasters amid a worsening crisis as global temperatures soar.
6. Additionally, bearing in mind the specific needs of the hard of hearing community, the infirm, the elderly, and the blind community, the development of a special accessible emergency device should be developed to enable these communities to:
Receive advanced “shelter in place alerts” to enable us sufficient time to evacuate;
Ensure priority is given to persons with disabilities to be evacuated to accessible shelters;
Keeping families together, equality, nondiscrimination and the right to privacy, must be at the heart of any law and policy;
Special Notifications system which would alert emergency personnel where disadvantaged communities reside, in the event of imminent danger, warranting emergency evacuation. This can ensure we get connected to emergency responders and also utilize accessible transportation services including boats and air support, should roads become impassable;
For those in the blind community, information should be made available in braille and for those in the deaf and hard of hearing community, persons with sign language skill-sets should be available to communicate pertinent lifesaving information.
A safer community and by extension a safer country means a safer and better world for all 1.5 billion persons with disabilities residing across the Globe. It also means protection, dignity and respect for the rights of elderly persons and the infirm, communities which face similar grueling challenges.