Abstract
Although protecting the most vulnerable populations is a central priority in climate resilience planning, people with disabilities (PWDs) are rarely addressed explicitly in climate planning. This case study analyzes the inclusion of PWDs in climate resilience planning, using Massachusetts’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program, the state’s comprehensive approach to climate resilience planning, as a case study. Drawing on in-depth interviews, document review, and participation in a multisectoral working group addressing disability issues, we find that the planning program includes only minimal attention to disability issues overall, that differences in PWDs’ functional abilities were not addressed, and that the challenges PWDs face in participating in planning processes—physical, logistical, and communication barriers—were not considered. A discussion explores reasons for this oversight, including the limits of disability designations in climate planning, the intersection of disabilities with other factors of marginalization, and the emphasis on physical rather than social models of disabilities in climate planning. We argue that environmental justice frameworks, as operationalized in climate resilience planning, could better support the needs of PWDs by including a rights-based approach.
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