It was great to start our “Disability & Climate: In Conversation With…” series with Prof Sébastien Jodoin, a legal scholar that has played a key role in building linkages between the fields of disability and climate change. In this session, we discussed how his lived experience with multiple sclerosis has informed his research and advocacy on disability-inclusive climate action, what his work has uncovered about the gaps and opportunities in this field, the many ways in which disabled people can act as agents of climate action, the challenges and barriers that they face in doing so, and the ways in which he cultivates hope and optimism in difficult circumstances.
We recorded the initial part of the talk (but not the open Q&A to ensure people felt comfortable in asking their questions without being recorded). You can listen to that in full in the video at the top of this page.
A Word document containing a transcript of the recording is also available beneath the video.
About Prof Jodoin
Prof. Sébastien Jodoin is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law of McGill University, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights, Health, and the Environment. Drawing on his lived experience with multiple sclerosis, Dr. Jodoin co-founded and directs the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Programme, a pioneering initiative to generate, co-produce, and translate knowledge at the intersections of disability and climate justice.
His research in this area has been cited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and has been covered by media outlets around the world, including the Associated Press, the CBC, the BBC, and The Guardian. In 2023, McGill University awarded him its Changemaker Prize, which is awarded to scholars whose dedication to sharing their knowledge with the media and the public has had a major impact on society.