{"id":1440,"date":"2009-11-13T14:34:22","date_gmt":"2009-11-13T19:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/?p=1440"},"modified":"2026-02-09T14:56:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:56:47","slug":"circumpolar-inuit-call-on-global-leaders-to-act-on-arctic-climate-change-at-cop15-in-copenhagen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/press-releases\/circumpolar-inuit-call-on-global-leaders-to-act-on-arctic-climate-change-at-cop15-in-copenhagen\/","title":{"rendered":"Circumpolar Inuit Call on Global Leaders to Act on Arctic Climate Change at COP15 in Copenhagen"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\r\n\r\n13 November, 2009 \u2013 Copenhagen, Denmark -- Inuit leaders, through the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), today released a document calling on global leaders to adopt a meaningful agreement at December\u2019s UN Climate Change Convention (UNCCC) Conference in Copenhagen \u2013 one that will safeguard the future of the Arctic. The Inuit homeland in the Arctic has been identified by scientists as climate change region of concern, and ICC\u2019s Call on Global Leaders notes the Arctic\u2019s important role in moderating the global climate and controlling world-wide ocean currents.\r\n\r\nICC Chair, Jim Stotts, was in Copenhagen today to meeting with senior government officials of the Arctic Council and to launch ICC\u2019s call for action by global leaders. He said, \u201cthe Arctic is at the epicentre of climate change. Inuit traditions and subsistence practices have already been assaulted.\u201d The December Conference of the Parties (CoP) will be its 15th. \u201cCoP 15 is the most critical climate meeting thus far\u201d, added Mr. Stotts. \u201cOur message to global leaders is simple: there is no more time to waste.\u201d\r\n\r\nAqqaluk Lynge, ICC Vice Chair for Greenland, also in Copenhagen, said that as indigenous hosts to the COP15, Inuit will send a clear message to policymakers about the importance of action. \u201cGovernment leaders at COP15 must take the strongest possible measures to protect our Arctic homeland\u201d. He noted that the Greenland icecap\u2019s rapid melt shows the world that Inuit are among the most vulnerable. \u201cWe need resources and technology to help us adapt.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Inuit Call to Global Leaders outlines six elements that a successful CoP 15 agreement must contain. Inuit leaders from across the Arctic made public these elements yesterday. Commenting on the call to action, Edward Itta, ICC Vice Chair for Alaska, noted that adaptation assistance will be a key benchmark for success in Copenhagen. \u201cWe Inuit live in so-called developed countries. Yet we are getting ready to relocate entire communities and rebuild our infrastructure as our permafrost melts and our shorelines erode\u201d, said Mr. Itta, who is also the Mayor of the North Slope Borrough, the most northerly community in the USA.\r\n\r\nInuit leaders also offered their help to the global leaders. Tatiana Achirgina, ICC Vice Chair for Chukotka, said in Anadyr, Russia, \u201cwe offer our traditional knowledge, which is based on living closely with the land and sea over many generations, and is passed down from grandmother to granddaughter, grandfather to grandson\u201d. Because traditional knowledge has contributed to groundbreaking research on climate change, Ms. Achirgina said that UN member states and their scientists should \u201cdraw upon this knowledge as they tackle climate change impacts and adaptation challenges\u201d.\r\n\r\nDuane Smith, ICC Vice Chair for Canada, said in Inuvik, Canada that the development and transfer of small-scale, appropriate technologies to Inuit communities is essential for moving forward. \u201cMany Arctic communities want green technology to help offset the high cost of living. But access to green energy is still expensive here.\u201d He stressed that a successful climate change agreement would \u201cincorporate mechanisms to assist local communities with green technology.\u201d\r\n\r\nInuit leaders will also be present in Copenhagen in December to remind UN member states of the elements of ICC\u2019s global call for action. Mr. Stotts concluded, \u201cwe hope that the world\u2019s political leaders will listen.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Call to Global Leaders is available on ICC\u2019s website: www.inuitcircumpolar.com. For more information:\r\n1\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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\r\n\r\nIn Copenhagen: Chester Reimer\r\ntel: +1 613 355 7765 reimer@crcionline.com\r\n\r\nIn Canada:\r\nCorinne Gray\r\ntel: +1 613 563 2642 cgray@inuitcircumpolar.com\r\n\r\nIn Chukotka, Russia: Tatiana Achirgina tel: +7 42 722 24504 dareva44@mail.ru\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nIn Greenland: Aqqaluk Lynge tel: +299 32 36 32 aqqaluk@inuit.org\r\n\r\nICC Chair Office (Alaska): Jim Stotts\r\ntel. +1 907 274 9058 jimmy@iccalaska.org\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-40","category-press-releases"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1440"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987515315,"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1440\/revisions\/987515315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inuitcircumpolar.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}