Accelerating inclusion and resilience for all through climate finance and participatory actions in cities. Partnerships for disability inclusion to leave no one behind.

Nina Kolybashkina

Facilitator

November 5, 2024 | 13:00 - 14:30

Multipurpose room 04

Global Disability Innovation Hub

United Kingdom

English

Reference:

NE 04-01

WUF12

Networking Events

Summary

An inclusive, just and climate-resilient world needs climate finance for transformational change for all. New resources offer guidance on how climate investments and community-led action that integrate a disability inclusion can break barriers and improve the resilience of people with disabilities. Cities can play a pivotal role in resilient and inclusive futures. However, today, only 21% of climate finance goes towards adaptation and resilience, and about 10% of climate finance reaches the local level. There needs to be an acceleration of climate finance to cities. Conversely, local communities have long practised resilience, offering solutions for inclusive action.

This event gathers climate funds, UN agencies, INGOs, Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), academia and civil society to demonstrate commitments to multi-partner collaboration, sharing knowledge, resources and building partnerships to leverage cities as the site of transformative action on inclusive resilience.

At WUF11, Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) committed to research on how urban interventions can address climate resilience and the inclusion of people with disabilities hand-in-hand, advocating to design solutions with people with disabilities, through inclusive design and research, for cities that are more accessible for all.

In 2024, Climate Investment Funds (CIF) launched a background note on ‘Disability Inclusion in Climate Finance’ to inform their approach and the application for investment. The paper begins to address the knowledge gap on disability inclusion in climate finance, and serves as a resource for the sector.

In partnership, GDI Hub, CIF and CBM Global Disability Inclusion have developed sector-specific guidance on integrating disability inclusion in climate finance sectors, including climate-smart cities, nature-based solutions and just transition.

NIUA is working to strengthen resilience for people with disabilities (SARAL), through research in collaboration with the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) to understand disproportionate impact of climate-related disasters, cyclones, on people with disabilities in Odisha, India, identifying the role of community safety nets.

UN-Habitat promotes participatory planning and design approaches, multi-level governance and access to climate finance for local action for resilient urban environments. Leveraging existing resources, such as the City-Wide Public Space Assessment Toolkit and its Flagship Programme “Inclusive Communities, Thriving Cities” to explore avenues for cooperation.

The session will present case studies through a panel discussion followed by interactive roundtable discussions on entry points, facilitated with civil society partners:

1. Urban Design and Infrastructure, Kota Kita and Kounkuey Design Initiative
2. Community Participation, CBM Global and NIUA
3. Energy access and innovation, GDI Hub
4. Data, monitoring and impact, World Blind Union

Objectives

1. Partnerships and cooperation: Develop new partnerships and strengthen existing ones to scale up and accelerate the deployment of climate finance to ensure positive transformative outcomes for people with disabilities and discuss how community-led action supported by climate finance through cities can drive inclusion.

2. Share knowledge and tools: Explore avenues for cooperation, leveraging existing initiatives and tools, sharing key resources on inclusive climate finance and resilience and the rationale for disability inclusion, including good practice examples such as community-led action and research.

3. Participatory planning and governance and inclusive infrastructure as a key target for inclusive climate finance: Multi-stakeholder workshops in February 2024 identified cities as a nexus for climate finance sectors. SARAL identified streamlining responsibility, accountability and credibility among local community networks.

4. Ensure practical action, inclusive solutions, replicability and scaleability: explore how to operationalise disability inclusion in the design and implementation of investment, interventions and within organisations, cities and communities.

5. Emphasise the potential of local and community-led action for inclusive solutions: by bringing in local civil society partners to facilitate discussions on key entry points to secure inclusive, sustainable, safe, resilient and just cities for all, including people with disabilities.