Inuit and Arctic Indigenous Peoples Day

Wednesday was "Inuit and Arctic Indigenous Peoples Day" at COP15, "A Celebration of Inuit and Arctic Indigenous Peoples' Culture and a Global Call to Action".

In addition to various cultural performances excellent presentations on the growing the impacts of climate change being experienced by Inuit in different parts of the circumpolar world were made by northern leaders.

My presentation re-enforced our position that Inuit are not willing to be the passive victims of climate change - our land, our waters, and our ice, and being impacted at a rate that exceeds that experienced by others and we want the opportunity to be part of climate change solutions.

As was made clear in my presentation the Inuit strategy at COP15 is threefold

1. We will continue to support and lobby for regional, national and international efforts to curb carbon emissions, understanding that ultimately this is a planetary crisis.
2. We are urging world leaders to make international adaptation programs and funding available to populations at risk in both developing and developed countries, including Inuit population. I have also advised Minister Prentice that binding international agreements must acknowledge the needs of the most vulnerable.
3. We are advocating for the political agreement produced by these meetings to address both mitigation and adaptation in the Arctic regions and acknowledge the vulnerability of areas dependent on ice and snow. In particular, I am calling on the Canadian government to ensure that Inuit interests are represented.

It is, I think, important to note that the media has paid no real attention to the very strong Inuit presence at this conference. Given that Inuit are, and have been, some of the most impacted people on the planet one would think that the media focus on our participation would be greater yet few people seem aware that Greenland Inuit are the Indigenous hosts of COP15, the largest climate change conference ever held. The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) and ICC Greenland have been very active in hosting events at the conference, including an official Side Event at the main conference centre Niels Bohr Room highlighting the importance of using Indigenous knowledge in adapting to climate changes, and the Inuit and Arctic Indigenous Peoples Day event I spoke at.

Their hard work and dedication is not only very evident but very appreciated.

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