Johannesburg, South Africa Monday September 2, 2002Â
Inuit leaders are in Johannesburg to press for the recognition of Arctic concerns on the global agenda, but are deeply concerned the Arctic will be ignored in the final political declaration.
There were limited opportunities at WSSD to voice concerns of the sustainability of Inuit culture and the Arctic region to a large audience, as the Summit process did not provide accessibility for Inuit to directly address the plenary. The WSSD Political Declaration should recognize the vulnerable, fragile, and unique status of the Arctic and its indigenous peoples.
In recent years the Arctic has become an “indicator” of the planet’s environmental health. The Arctic is singled out in the 2001 Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs). All climate change models predict severe climate changes in high latitudes where Inuit live with very worrying social, cultural, and economic impacts.
“Climate change and contaminants are issues Inuit are dealing with daily. The impacts are dramatic. The snow and ice upon which our very lives depend is rapidly melting before our eyes because of global warming. When we eat our precious traditional food, we now worry about contaminants contained in the food which are carried by air and water currents to our homeland from far away. What is happening in the Arctic today is a snapshot of the planet’s future,” said Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference.
In his speech today to the WSSD plenary, Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister of Canada identified Inuit as being detrimentally affected by climate change and committed to bring the Kyoto Protocol before the Canadian parliament for ratification before the end of 2002. Inuit view Mr. Chretien’s statement as an important first step in addressing climate change, but point out that it falls short of the government of Canada’s commitments made to the Inuit in Canada and circumpolar regions.
In May, 2001, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, and Mr. Jose Kusugak, President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), received a commitment in writing from the Prime Minister to ensure that “a northern dimension would be reflected in Canadian positions at WSSD.” Furthermore, Inuit leaders worked for over a year to ensure an Arctic voice is present at WSSD by attending all PrepCom meetings.
Inuit remain committed to ensure Arctic concerns guide global discussions and will continue to press Canada and other nations to ratify existing international agreements on climate change and persistent organic pollutants, such as the Kyoto and Stockholm conventions, and to recognize that the Arctic is the global early warning system.
The Inuit Circumpolar Conference is an International organization representing Inuit in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Russia. It recently held its 9th General Assembly in Kuujjuaq, Nunavik (northern Quebec, Canada) from August 12-16, 2002, unanimously electing Sheila Watt-Cloutier as Chairperson for the next four years. The organization holds Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status at the United Nations.
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Stephanie Meakin
Technical Advisor
Inuit Circumpolar Conference
Johannesburg Cell: 082 858 9520
Stephen Hendrie
Director of Communications
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
hendrie@itk.ca