In 2023, 93 million people around the world were adversely affected by natural hazards, many climate-linked, with 86,473 fatalities and economic losses amounting to $202.7 billion. According to the World Health Organization, heat stress is the leading cause of weather-related deaths. Considering this, it is important to invest in inclusive and climate-resilient infrastructure.
BIC has worked at the intersection of climate and disability and monitored various Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) financed projects, including in the transport and post-disaster reconstruction sectors. A trend we have identified in these projects is a lack of meaningful stakeholder engagement and robust data collection in project design and implementation, which has led to persons with disabilities being excluded from accessing project benefits. The design of all new infrastructure projects and those being updated should incorporate disability-inclusive climate resilience measures.
What should the World Bank take into account when investing in infrastructure?
Heat Stress: Our partners in Ghana dealt with this issue as they engaged with a diverse set of stakeholders around the World Bank-proposed Kumasi Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project (KUMAP). Community members shared that the current transport system lacks a sufficient number of covered bus stops to protect people from bright sunlight. Any new bus stops constructed as part of the KUMAP project should be universally accessible and protect against bright sunlight and extreme heat. All infrastructure investments must consider how persons with different disabilities, health conditions, and mobility needs interact with the heat and design for it.
Flooding: Communities in Kumasi have raised concerns around the climate resilience of the transport system, particularly around flooding. Currently, roads are inaccessible after flooding, and people are cut off from services, jobs, and schools, all of which may disproportionately impact persons with disabilities. The KUMAP project should incorporate climate resilience into the design and operation of the transport system to maintain service in the event of flooding or other climate-induced disasters. Any resilience measures should be disability inclusive.
How to Make Infrastructure Resilient and Inclusive
Plan for the Unexpected and Maintain Engagement with Stakeholders. In Central Sulawesi, the World Bank has been supporting the government of Indonesia to rebuild housing and public infrastructure following an earthquake and tsunami in September 2018. Camps were built with temporary housing meant to last around two to three years. However, it has taken over five years for the permanent housing to be built, with the construction due to be completed by the end of 2024. Those living in the camps found it difficult to manage the living conditions due to the deteriorating quality of the housing and the impact of the weather. These conditions led to residents moving to the permanent housing as soon as it was built, even before water and electricity connections were provided.
The experience in Palu could not have been captured in assessments at the beginning of the project and delays that arose during implementation were not foreseen or planned for. However, it could have been better mitigated with continuous stakeholder engagement and flexibility throughout the project implementation period, with meaningful consultations, incorporating better data disaggregation (such as gender, age, and vulnerabilities to climate change), and better communication during the housing delays. The Bank should have engaged in more frequent dialogue with disaster-affected persons and updated the project design to reflect changes in the needs of communities and the environment. The World Bank should be prepared to adapt to the unexpected through rigorous data collection and regular stakeholder engagement throughout the project cycle.
Be More Consistent in Addressing Marginalized Groups. The Bank’s infrastructure investments in recent years have heavily emphasized promoting resilient, green, healthy, and inclusively-built environments, particularly through partnerships such as the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). However, the Bank does not consistently or adequately address marginalized groups in its plans and policies, including research reports, publications, or toolkits. While some Bank publications include universal accessibility, other publications fail to evaluate differentiated impacts on marginalized populations - for example, the impact on women, persons with disabilities, or women with disabilities. It is important that all Bank research, publications, toolkits, and frameworks recognize the interconnected impacts of climate change and use this knowledge and understanding to design projects that are genuinely inclusive for all.