News / disability
Group offers councils guidance on climate and disability
Local authority guidance and a green jobs report have been produced by a Bristol group dedicated to climate and disability.
Led by Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership‘s Climate and Disability programme, the resources were produced with input from Disabled people, council workers and climate change experts.
They are designed to help councils, businesses and charities understand how Disabled people are impacted by the climate emergency and action to tackle it, removing barriers to ensure Disabled people are part of the conversation.
The community climate action plan developed by and for Disabled people is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK “if not the world” said project leader Emma Geen (far left) – photo: ShamPhat Photography
The guides for local authorities, created by Climate and Disability programme associate Dr Emma Geen with Dr Sarah Bell from the Sensing Climate project, cover a variety of topics where improvements could be made including housing and energy, food, waste and transport.
“Disabled people are one of the groups that can be most adversely impacted by action on climate change that doesn’t think about our needs,” Geen explained.
“This exclusion can turn communities against climate projects and makes them more expensive to fix than if Disabled people been included from the start.
“Our hope is that local authority resources will support councils with the context, knowledge and guidance to make their climate work accessible from square one, ensuring that they not only work for Disabled people but are cheaper, and more widely adopted and welcomed the broader community.”
Staff at Bristol City Council and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority will be offered briefings on the documents in February, and they will also be made available to councils nationwide.
Ruth Nortey, whose podcast featured people working at the intersection of climate, disability and race in Bristol, co-authored the report analysing the inclusivity of the green jobs sector – photo: ShamPhat Photography
Geen also co-produced the report on Green jobs for Disabled people with Ruth Nortey, a climate justice academic and activist.
It establishes the systemic barriers to Disabled people entering the green jobs market and suggests easy actions organisations can take to tackle this.
“At a challenging time for employment for Disabled people, we hope the report will inspire more work supporting Disabled people to get jobs that take action on climate change,” said Geen.
“The report sets out the complex array of systemic structures that are locking Disabled people out of work in this area and offers some quick wins and ideas for further projects that could address these problems.”
The Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership is on the hunt for an organisation that can advance their work on disability.
Their latest commission will award £50,000 for two year’s work to a Disabled People’s Organisation (DPO) that can advocate for Disabled people in climate action, develop the community climate action plan by and for Disabled people and contribute to the holistic Community Climate & Nature Action Project.
Geen explained why the work is important: “The environmental sector and disability sector have a lot to gain by working together and much to lose if they don’t. There has never been a more important time for the voices of Disabled people to be at the centre of work on climate and nature action.
“The commission is an exciting opportunity for the project to be homed back with a Disabled people’s organisation, both to expand the work into the West of England area but also for the successful organisation to become a leader on climate and disability, locally and much further afield.”
Find out more about the commission at bristolclimatenature.org/news/opportunity-for-disabled-peoples-organisation and download the local authority and green jobs resources here.
All images: ShamPhat Photography
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
