Integrate publications

The TEA platform is working to integrate a gender equality, disability, and social inclusion (GEDSI) lens into key decision-making and project activities, tracking results, and supporting a just and inclusive clean energy transition that leaves no one behind.

The GEDSI Toolkit and other training resources presented on this page are aimed at promoting and enabling socio-economic development, growth and poverty reduction, and supporting equal access to the benefits of modern, affordable and reliable energy. It was developed primarily with TEA platform partners in mind, though contains tools and guidance that can be valuable to others in the wider sector.

This Resource Guide was developed jointly by the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) and the Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG), which is an initiative of CBM Global Disability Inclusion. We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the 15 sector experts who participated in interviews during the initial consultation phase in 2023, offering valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities for inclusion across urban climate action, nature-based solutions, and energy transition

Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. Its impacts are widespread, but they are not experienced equally. Persons with disabilities – who represent over one billion people globally are disproportionately affected by climate-related risks, yet remain underrepresented in climate policy, planning, and action. This Resource Guide is a practical response to that gap. And it brings something new to the field of climate action: a clear, practical focus on how disability inclusion can be embedded across specific climate action sectors. From energy and urban development to nature-based solutions and disaster risk reduction, it showcases real-world examples that demonstrate what is possible when inclusion is intentional. These examples are still too rare and too often undocumented. 

By highlighting them, this guide aims to inspire and equip climate practitioners to act, then document and share those actions to drive learning across sectors. The guide is grounded in dialogue, with organisations of persons with disabilities, climate actors, and development partners, and reflects a growing recognition that inclusive climate action is not only a matter of rights, but of resilience and resourcefulness. This is reflected in the growing momentum for official recognition of a disability constituency with the UNFCCC; a vital step to ensure that persons with disabilities can shape the policies which impact their lives. As organisations committed to disability inclusion and innovation, we see this guide as both a comprehensive resource and a starting point to build more evidence. There is an urgent need for deeper collaboration between disability and climate actors to generate and share knowledge, build mutual understanding, and strengthen inclusive practice. Through partnerships, dialogue, and joint learning, we can ensure that persons with disabilities are not only supported to be resilient to the impacts of climate change, but are active participants in shaping a more just and sustainable future.

Assistive technology (AT) plays a vital role in promoting independence, inclusion, and improved quality of life for people globally [1–3]. Yet, over 1 billion people worldwide lack access to AT, particularly in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) where access is as low as 3% [4]. In 2016, to address this large and global need, the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched the Priority Assistive Products List (APL), a model list of fifty essential assistive products [5]. Modelled after the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, the WHO Priority APL aimed to strengthen health systems and advance Universal Health Coverage (UHC) through improved AT provision, while also mobilising resources and stimulating market competition [5,6]. The WHO APL provides a guiding framework for countries to develop National APLs, tailored to local contexts and priorities [7,8]. These National APLs can inform local policies, resource allocation, and service delivery strategies, ultimately improving access to AT not only for people with disabilities but all who benefit from AT. Research has demonstrated that increased availability of assistive products can contribute to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including poverty reduction, improved health outcomes, and enhanced educational and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities [7]. This underscores the importance of National APLs as tools for promoting UHC and social inclusion [6]. Despite the availability of the WHO Priority APL since 2016, country-level adoption of National APLs has been limited. By 2020, no African countries had developed National APLs. Between 2021 and 2024, work was done with several governments to develop and launch the first-ever National APLs, yet many African countries have yet to initiate this process [9]. Given this, the need for knowledge sharing across the international setting regarding the process, barriers, facilitators, and learnings from implementing National APLs is key [10].
 

The Inclusive Infrastructure sub-programme, led by GDI Hub, recognises that the built environment, the world where we live, dictates our ability to use the AT we need. Access to the built environment is a fundamental human right, protected by the UN CRPD. However, the world we have designed and built presents a multitude of barriers and challenges for many, including persons with disabilities.

Disability is diverse, encompassing physical, sensory, and intellectual disabilities. Likewise, the experiences of people with disabilities—and the barriers they encounter when trying to access or benefit from material, financial, or social opportunities—vary greatly. Just as diverse are the ways in which these barriers can be removed. Hence, an explicit focus on disability is key to delivering an inclusive energy transition that leaves no one behind.

This Briefing Note sets the context, rationale, and recommendations for strategically integrating disability inclusion and accessibility in energy transition, Gender Equality, and Social Inclusion (GESI) programming and delivery. Particularly, this frames a Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) approach for the Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform and partners and presents eleven recommendations for action.

Globally, 1 in 6 people experience disability (16%), 80% of whom live in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Disability occurs when people with impairments lose the opportunity for equal participation in society because of social and environmental barriers. In the context of climate change, disability can be a cause and consequence of energy poverty, as households of people with disabilities in LMICs are commonly larger, poorer, and in rural areas, where they may require more heating or cooling.

This White Paper titled ‘Opportunities for Disability-inclusive Energy Access’ underscores the need for inclusive energy transition measures to prevent socio-economic exclusion and discrimination, particularly among people with disabilities. This also outlines opportunities for powering assistive technology with clean energy and creating accessible clean energy solutions across eight sectors, including 1) home appliances and information and communication technologies (ICTs); 2) built environment and cities; 3) transportation; 4) healthcare; 5) education; 6) green jobs; 7) humanitarian sector and reconstruction; and 8) energy infrastructure.

This will serve as a reference for energy access innovators, practitioners, and policymakers to identify potential entry points for their contribution to disability-inclusive energy transition.