Esther Kim

Esther worked with Human Rights Watch, Disability Rights Division, to advance research and advocacy on climate change. She specifically sought to understand how climate change impacts older people and people with disabilities.  

Community Engagement Initiative

“Crossing Borders Bridging Lives” was co-created by Esther Kim and Waghma Ahmadzay. Through the exchange of 12 handwritten letters, they connected individuals from around the world to share their stories of migration. Some participants were voluntary migrants while others were forced migrants but each letter and encompassing reflection centers a key point: people have the right to move and people’s stories connect us.

Report

Forced to Wait: How Climate Change Response Excludes People with Disabilities, Older People

Human-induced climate change has accelerated global warming, causing adverse impacts on not only the environment but the human population as well. People with disabilities and older people have been disproportionately affected, and governments have failed to protect these populations. By placing responsibility on individuals, climate change response has forced people with disabilities and older people into a system of waiting. This report details how people with disabilities and older people have been adversely impacted during storms, hurricanes, and floods caused by coastal erosion and sea level rise in Louisiana and Alaska over the past 20 years and during heatwaves and wildfires across Europe in July 2022. With climate events becoming more extreme and even leading to displacement, much more needs to be done to ensure people with disabilities and older people are protected before, during, and after climate events, and especially during disasters.

Read Esther’s blog: “Vulnerable Doesn’t Mean Less Than: Giving Vulnerable Populations the Same Human Standard”

Bio

Esther Kim (she/her) holds a BA in English Literature and minors in Education and in Disability Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Oxford, where she conducted research on the lived experience and social identity of people with disabilities in Uganda. From her lived experience, Esther has developed a passion for using storytelling as a way of not only sharing the often-hidden realities of people with disabilities but also drawing attention to and garnering support for people with disabilities in a manner that is person-first and led by those with disabilities themselves. Esther is currently pursuing a career in research with a focus on people with disabilities, especially in the Global South. 

Keywords

Disability, older people, climate change, displacement, erosion, storms, hurricanes, floods, heatwaves, wildfires, Alaska, Louisiana, Europe, Bangladesh