ICC Activities

Taking Action to Advance the Inuit Vision

Convention on Biological Diversity

Over the past four years, ICC has continued its active role representing Inuit internationally in the meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) process. ICC has represented Inuit at a number of international meetings, including the CBD Working Group on Article 8j of the Convention (WG8j), which mandates indigenous peoples participation in CBD processes, in December, 2003, in Montreal, Canada, and another representative from ICC attended the fourth meeting of WG8j in Granada, Spain in January, 2006. Significant progress has been made procedurally in WG8j, although not substantively. The Working Group now allows indigenous co-chairs and increased access to meetings of the parties at a level unprecedented outside of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. These gains, however, have been difficult to press into other forums. ICC has, however, ensured that those recommendations that WG8j has forwarded to the CBD Conference of the Parties have remained in line with Inuit interests, including those systems to preserve traditional knowledge, innovations and practices are fully in line with principles of prior informed consent, and that those recommendations do not conflict with domestic Inuit land claims agreements.