New climate and disability resources

One of the greatest barriers to climate change action that is fair for Disabled people is the lack of research and resources. Disabled people are regularly left out of climate change conversations and forgotten in most plans. And though there is no data on the number of Disabled people working on climate change, the fact that no one has ever thought to gather the data likely reflects a lack of Disabled people working in the area. When Disabled people’s voices aren’t heard on climate change issues, either as a community or as staff, this often leads to the design of projects that create new barriers for Disabled people. In answer to these problems, the Climate and Disability programme has released two sets of new resources that aim to drive change by developing understanding and suggesting solutions.

The resources are developed following input of Disabled people, council workers and climate change experts at two roundtables that took place in the summer of 2025. The resources also include ideas and insights from Bristol’s community climate action plan by and for Disabled people, which was created by the Climate and Disability Forum. A huge thanks to everyone who took part and offered their valuable ideas.

Local Authority resources

The Local Authority resources are a set of short guides that council departments can use to guide the development of plans with a climate change angle. There are seven core resources on area themes, such as nature, jobs and transport, and two supplementary resources on how to carry out co-production and inclusive engagement for Disabled people. The core resources include:

1. An introduction to the ways in which climate change or action on climate change can impact upon Disabled people in the area.
2. The story of a fictional Disabled character (created using real stories) affected by action on climate change.
3. Case studies where these are available.
4. Key questions for council workers to consider when carrying out work on climate change to support them to understand how their projects could impact on Disabled people and suggest how to improve this work.
5. Areas to prioritise for action taken from Bristol’s community climate action plan by and for Disabled people.
6. Links to further resources.

Council workers at Bristol City Council and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority will be offered briefings on the documents in February. The resources were created by Climate and Disability programme associate Emma Geen and Dr Sarah Bell from Sensing Climate.

Download the resources:

• Housing and energy pdf or Word
• Green jobs pdf or Word
• Food pdf or Word
• Resilience pdf or Word
• Waste pdf or Word
• Transport pdf or Word
• Nature pdf or Word
• Co-production pdf or Word
• Inclusive engagement pdf or Word

Green jobs report

The Green jobs for Disabled people report was created using insights gathered at the jobs roundtable in June. At the roundtable attendees were split into tables on green skills, recruitment and inclusive workplaces. The report was created by Climate and Disability programme associate Emma Geen and climate justice activist Ruth Nortey.

The report includes:

1. An introduction to the importance of action on green jobs for Disabled people.
2. Context on current disability employment.
3. A summary of existing projects on green jobs for Disabled people.
4. A summary of barriers experienced by Disabled people in accessing green jobs.
5. A summary of potential solutions to these barriers.
6. A summary of quick wins that employers for green jobs can take to improve accessibility.
7. Ten suggested projects for action in this area.

Disability and climate change charities are welcome and encouraged to use the report to take action on improving green jobs for Disabled people. The hope of the authors is that the report will be used to develop new projects to tackle the systemic barriers and support organisations to secure funding for these projects.

The green jobs report is available in a technical version PDF or Word, Plain English PDF or Word, Easy Read, and BSL. The BSL videos of the Local Authority resources will be available soon.

Download the resources

Find out more about the Climate & Disability programme