Summary
This is about how you can get involved in our Disabled Climate Action Forum and what we are doing to safeguard the environment.
Table of Contents
What is it?
Why are we doing this?
What is the Disabled Climate Action Forum?
What is Difference doing?
So, climate action — what is it?
What is it?
It is… getting involved in healing the wounds of a hurt animal, righting the wrongs of our forebears and saving the planet!
It is… taking the bus instead of the car, half-filling the kettle, leaving wildflowers in your garden and not buying what you don’t need. But it also tells fire safety officers that there is no way you can get out of the building if there is a fire — or that if the power goes out, your life support goes out too.
It’s about meeting together and working out how we can do our best to protect our home, and making sure disabled people are part of that conversation.
That is why Difference hosts the Disabled Climate Action Forum — and you are invited.
Why are we doing this?
Many disabled people feel shut out of conversations about climate action. This means our experiences can be missing when plans are made for the effects of climate change, including extreme heat, flooding and power cuts — with potentially life-threatening consequences.
At the same time, disabled people can be blamed for using single-use plastics, diesel vehicles or large amounts of electricity — even when these things are essential for our independence, health or survival.
Climate action must protect disabled people, not blame or exclude us. We need to be part of shaping it.
What is the Disabled Climate Action Forum?
The Disabled Climate Action Forum — or DCAF — is a space for disabled people across the North East to come together and talk about the climate and environmental issues that matter to us.
We meet online every three months. Sometimes visiting speakers introduce us to different issues and ideas, which we discuss together afterwards — such as power outages and their effects on disabled people. Sometimes we simply share the air and talk about whatever we want to talk about.
What is Difference doing?
We don’t think it is enough simply to ask other people to take action. Difference has an environmental impact too. Working in offices, even at home, uses electricity. Travelling by car or taxi burns fossil fuels, and bringing people together for events creates further emissions.
We calculate the carbon produced through our work and buy carbon credits to help balance it. These credits support improvements to social housing in the North East, such as better insulation and clean-energy technology, including solar panels.
We also buy more credits than we produce, making us a carbon-positive organisation.
So, climate action — what is it?
It’s you and us, together. It’s about the life of the planet and the lives of each other. It’s nothing about us without us.
It’s the Disabled Climate Action Forum, and we’d love to see you there.
If you would like to come to the next DCAF meeting, please email info@differencenortheast.org.uk and put “DCAF” in the subject line. We hope to see you there!