02.10.25 Community

Creating a green and accessible future

Through our Climate and Disability programme, we’re working directly with Disabled people on local climate and nature action. This month we’re launching a range of outputs from the programme, promoting climate action that is inclusive of, and accessible to Bristol’s community of Disabled people.

Disabled people are one of the groups that will be hurt most by climate change and the loss of nature. Yet Disabled people have been largely left out of action and planning. This has not only led to climate work making new barriers for Disabled people but meant the movement has missed out on the expertise and ideas that Disabled people can bring.

Through developing and sharing these resources, our hope is to inspire and support other areas to bring their local community of Disabled people into their climate and nature work.

Refreshed Disabled people’s community climate action plan

In 2022 the world’s first community climate action plan made by and for Disabled people was launched. The work was led by the Bristol Disability Equality Forum. The understanding of how climate and disability interact has grown a lot since then so in 2024 and 2025, Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership worked with a forum of Disabled people to update the plan. The work was led by Disabled woman Emma Geen, in her capacity as Climate and Disability Associate who also led on the first version of the plan, to ensure continuity.

“Our plan is created with the aim of thinking how our community can support actions to look after the planet, make life better for Disabled people and stop new barriers being made. Changes made for Disabled people are shown again and again to be good for everyone. So our plan should bring benefits for everyone in Bristol.”

Dr Emma Geen, Climate and Disability Programme Associate

Coproducing a community climate action plan

Currently, the Bristol plan remains the only existing community climate action plan by and for Disabled people in the UK. This is something which rapidly needs to change given the importance of community climate action plans for ensuring community representation in climate action and that Disabled people are disproportionately disadvantaged by climate change. This guide ‘coproducing a community climate action plan’ has been produced in the hope that it can support Disabled people and organisations from other areas to create their own plan.

It has been written in partnership with Sensing Climate, a research project, based at the University of Exeter that is exploring how responses to the climate crises take into account the priorities and insights of Disabled people.

Realising our inclusive transport vision

In 2024 the Inclusive Transport Vision for Bristol was launched. The Vision champions the sustainable transport priorities in Bristol’s first community climate action plans. Co-developed as part of the Community Climate Action Project, through engagement with communities and people who work in transport, the vision advocates for the transport needs of Bristol’s community of Disabled people, refugees and migrants, and people from parts of the city that are often left out of transport decision making.

This new toolkit ‘realising our inclusive transport vision’ provides guidance on how to make this vision a reality. It provides information and suggestions for residents and communities on how to influence and make positive changes in your neighbourhood. It also provides insights for decision makers which you can be used to support residents and communities to realise this ambition. Download the guide and support the shift towards sustainable transport and a more inclusive, safer city for all.

It was developed in partnership with Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans) based on engagement work by Florence Grieve, Inclusive Transport Advocate.

Climate justice in action

In the Climate Justice in Action podcast series, Ruth Nortey speaks to different climate activists and those working in the sector to understand how as we move towards a greener future, we can make sure that it’s a fairer future. As a Black Disabled woman, Ruth is particularly interested in understanding how Disabled people and people from global majority communities are being included in actions to reduce the impact of climate change. This podcast is a creative commission for the Climate and Disability programme.

Through four episodes, Ruth, and producer Dr Natalie Hyacinth, explore:

What a just transition is
How to ensure Disabled people are included in climate and nature action
Representation of global majority people in the environmental sector
The intersection of race, disability and climate change

Together with Ellie Shipman they have produced a zine to accompany the podcast series.

Improving home retrofit for Disabled people

Disabled people and caregivers experience a range of barriers that risk excluding them from the energy transition. They are twice as likely to be in poverty compared to non-disabled people due to experiencing barriers to employment or, for caregivers, having fewer hours in which to earn income. Many Disabled people also have more demands for energy use, be it from being at home more or to meet energy-related health needs such as additional heating, running assistive-powered technologies (e.g. electric wheelchair) or for storing medicine. The combination of low income and high energy cost puts Disabled people at risk of fuel poverty.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) did some research as part of the Climate and Disability programme, on the needs of Disabled people and caregivers in relation to energy advice and home energy efficiency improvement services. They have produced a report presenting the research findings and key recommendations along with a home energy retrofit guide and checklists for Disabled people and their caregivers.

Words that might not be accessible are explained in the jargon buster.

Find out more about the Climate and Disability programme

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