Pacific Leadership, Disability Inclusion and the Road to COP31

Stories | Published: November 2, 2026

As the world prepares for COP31 in Türkiye next month, there is a critical opportunity to ensure climate action is truly inclusive. People with disabilities are among the most affected by climate change, yet they continue to face barriers to participating in the decisions, finance and solutions shaping their futures.

At Pacific Pre-COP31 in Fiji and Tuvalu last month, the Pacific brought its leadership and lived experience to the centre of global climate diplomacy, with discussions focused on keeping 1.5°C within reach, improving access to climate finance, elevating the ocean as central to climate action and amplifying Pacific voices. These priorities must include the voices and leadership of people with disabilities, who remain underrepresented in climate governance, planning and investment despite often being disproportionately affected by climate hazards.

CBM Australia’s experience offers two practical examples of how disability-inclusive climate action can deliver stronger outcomes for people with disabilities, communities and climate actors.

The AHP Disaster READY program

CBM Australia has worked with Organisations of People with Disabilities (OPDs), humanitarian partners and communities across the Pacific and Timor-Leste since 2017, to make disaster preparedness, early warning and climate resilience more inclusive.

For people with disabilities, this has meant better access to preparedness information, greater participation in community activities and stronger recognition of OPDs as advisors, trainers, advocates and humanitarian actors. OPD-led service mapping, accessibility audits and grassroot connections, have helped expose and address barriers affecting evacuation, transport, information and assistance.

For governments, NGOs and other climate and humanitarian actors, the partnership has provided practical training, disability data approaches, accessible communication tools and technical advice—helping translate commitments to inclusion into more effective systems and services.

Learn more about the AHP Disaster READY Program

Climate Resilient by Nature program

CBM Australia has partnered with OPDs and WWF teams in Laos and Solomon Islands, combining evidence, participatory research and practical tools to strengthen disability inclusion in nature-based solutions.

The work has helped climate practitioners understand how barriers to participation and benefit-sharing can exclude people with disabilities, while showing how accessible consultation and OPD expertise can improve the design, governance and reach of nature-based solutions.

Learn more about the Climate Resilient by Nature Program

The lessons for COP31 Türkiye are practical:

• Discussions must include diverse people across the Pacific who live on the climate frontlines
• Climate finance should reach people with disabilities and their representative organisations
• Climate adaptation and nature-based solutions should be designed with people with disabilities from the outset
• OPDs should be resourced to participate as decision-makers and technical partners – not consulted after priorities have already been set

As world leaders meet at the global climate change conference in Türkiye next month, we call for disability inclusion to be embedded across climate governance, finance, adaptation, implementation and accountability. A Pacific-led climate agenda that leaves no one behind will deliver fairer, more locally grounded and more sustainable resilience for everyone.

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