A/HRC/44/30 I. Introduction 1. The present study is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 41/21, in which the Council requested the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to conduct a detailed analytical study, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, on the relationship between climate change and the full and effective enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities. 2. On 30 August 2019, OHCHR circulated a note verbale and a questionnaire to Member States, requesting their inputs. OHCHR also contacted other stakeholders, including international organizations, national human rights institutions and civil society. The contributions received and consultations with stakeholders informed the present study.1 3. In the study, OHCHR examines the impacts of climate change on persons with disabilities2 and the related human rights obligations and responsibilities of States and other actors, including the elements of a disability-inclusive, human rights-based approach to climate change policies. It provides examples of good practices and concludes with concrete recommendations for fulfilling human rights obligations, particularly those related to the human rights of persons with disabilities, in the context of climate change. II. The impacts of climate change on persons with disabilities 4. Disability covers a diverse array of impairments. 3 It results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal barriers, such as stereotypes, stigma and prejudices, and environmental barriers.4 That hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. 5 People who are culturally, economically, institutionally, politically, socially or otherwise marginalized, such as persons with disabilities, are particularly at risk of harm from the adverse effects of climate change.6 5. Climate change has both a direct and indirect impact on the effective enjoyment of a wide range of human rights for everyone. Persons with disabilities – an estimated 1 billion individuals worldwide7 – may experience those impacts differently and more severely than others (see A/71/314). For example, persons with disabilities are often among those most adversely affected in an emergency, sustaining disproportionately higher rates of morbidity and mortality, and are among those least able to access emergency support. Sudden-onset natural disasters and slow-onset events can seriously affect the access of persons with disabilities to food and nutrition, safe drinking water and sanitation, health-care services and medicines, education and training, adequate housing and access to decent work. 6. The majority of persons with disabilities live in poverty, as highlighted in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change foresees that the poorest people will continue to experience the worst effects of climate change through lost income and livelihood opportunities, displacement, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 All contributions are available at www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/HRAndClimateChange/Pages/PersonsWithDisabilities.aspx. In the present report, references to disability are to be understood according to the definition in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: “Disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others”. New Earth Disability, “Why climate change and disability?” available at https://wid.org/2018/09/25/ned-intro/. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, preamble and see Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, general comment No. 6 (2018) on equality and non-discrimination. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, preamble. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, synthesis report, summary for policymakers. World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, World Report on Disability (2011), p. 29. 3