Post by blackcrowheart on May 17, 2007 13:58:28 GMT -5
Inuit accuse US of destroying their way of life with global warming
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Published: 09 February 2007
news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2251362.ece
A delegation of Inuit is to travel to Washington DC to provide first-hand
testimony of how global warming is destroying their way of life and to
accuse the Bush administration of undermining their human rights.
The delegation, representing Inuit peoples from the US, Canada, Russia and
Greenland, will argue that the US's energy policies and its position as
the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases is having a devastating
effect on their communities. Melting sea ice, rising seas and the impact
on the animals they rely on for food threatens their existence.
The Inuit's efforts to force the US to act are part of an unprecedented
attempt to link climate change to international human rights laws. They
will argue before the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (ICHR) that
the US's behaviour puts it in breach of its obligations. "The impacts of
climate change, caused by acts and omissions by the US, violate the
Inuit's fundamental human rights protected by the American Declaration of
the Rights and Duties of Man and other international instruments," the
Inuit argued in a letter to the ICHR. "Because Inuit culture is
inseparable from the condition of their physical surroundings, the
widespread environmental upheaval resulting from climate change violates
the Inuit's right to practice and enjoy the benefits of their culture."
Indigenous peoples from the Arctic have long argued that global warming
was having a dramatic effect on their environment. In 2002, villagers in
the remote Alaskan island community of Shishmaref voted to relocate to the
mainland because rising sea levels threatened to overwhelm their
community. Data has been gathered to support their claims and scientists
have recorded how polar regions are the most vulnerable to climate change.
The most recent international Arctic Climate Impact Assessment suggested
global warming would see temperatures in the Arctic rise by 4-7C over the
next 100 years - about twice the previous average estimated increase.
The delegation to Washington will be led by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the
former chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference who was last week
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Speaking yesterday from Iqaluit in
Nunavut, Canada, she said: "For us in the Arctic our entire culture
depends on the cold. The problem of climate change is what this is all
about. At the same time we will be bringing in lawyers to talk about the
link between climate change and human rights."
The invitation for the Inuit to give testimony before the ICHR next month
comes just days after the most recent report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change provided a dire assessment about the threat of
climate change. In the Arctic, scientists have estimated that summer sea
ice could completely disappear by 2040.
Martin Wagner, of the California-based Earthjustice, said: "There can be
no question that global warming is a serious threat to human rights in the
Arctic and around the world. The ICHR plays an important role in
interpreting and defending human rights, and we are encouraged that it has
decided to consider the question of global warming."
The ICHR, an arm of the Organisation of American States, can issue
findings, recommendations and rulings. It can also refer cases to the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica, though the US has
always made clear it does not consider itself bound by the court's
rulings.
*
The material in this post is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research
and educational purposes.For more information go to:
www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
oregon.uoregon.edu/~csundt/documents.htm
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this
email for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
By Andrew Buncombe in Washington
Published: 09 February 2007
news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2251362.ece
A delegation of Inuit is to travel to Washington DC to provide first-hand
testimony of how global warming is destroying their way of life and to
accuse the Bush administration of undermining their human rights.
The delegation, representing Inuit peoples from the US, Canada, Russia and
Greenland, will argue that the US's energy policies and its position as
the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases is having a devastating
effect on their communities. Melting sea ice, rising seas and the impact
on the animals they rely on for food threatens their existence.
The Inuit's efforts to force the US to act are part of an unprecedented
attempt to link climate change to international human rights laws. They
will argue before the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights (ICHR) that
the US's behaviour puts it in breach of its obligations. "The impacts of
climate change, caused by acts and omissions by the US, violate the
Inuit's fundamental human rights protected by the American Declaration of
the Rights and Duties of Man and other international instruments," the
Inuit argued in a letter to the ICHR. "Because Inuit culture is
inseparable from the condition of their physical surroundings, the
widespread environmental upheaval resulting from climate change violates
the Inuit's right to practice and enjoy the benefits of their culture."
Indigenous peoples from the Arctic have long argued that global warming
was having a dramatic effect on their environment. In 2002, villagers in
the remote Alaskan island community of Shishmaref voted to relocate to the
mainland because rising sea levels threatened to overwhelm their
community. Data has been gathered to support their claims and scientists
have recorded how polar regions are the most vulnerable to climate change.
The most recent international Arctic Climate Impact Assessment suggested
global warming would see temperatures in the Arctic rise by 4-7C over the
next 100 years - about twice the previous average estimated increase.
The delegation to Washington will be led by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the
former chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference who was last week
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Speaking yesterday from Iqaluit in
Nunavut, Canada, she said: "For us in the Arctic our entire culture
depends on the cold. The problem of climate change is what this is all
about. At the same time we will be bringing in lawyers to talk about the
link between climate change and human rights."
The invitation for the Inuit to give testimony before the ICHR next month
comes just days after the most recent report of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change provided a dire assessment about the threat of
climate change. In the Arctic, scientists have estimated that summer sea
ice could completely disappear by 2040.
Martin Wagner, of the California-based Earthjustice, said: "There can be
no question that global warming is a serious threat to human rights in the
Arctic and around the world. The ICHR plays an important role in
interpreting and defending human rights, and we are encouraged that it has
decided to consider the question of global warming."
The ICHR, an arm of the Organisation of American States, can issue
findings, recommendations and rulings. It can also refer cases to the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica, though the US has
always made clear it does not consider itself bound by the court's
rulings.
*
The material in this post is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research
and educational purposes.For more information go to:
www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
oregon.uoregon.edu/~csundt/documents.htm
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this
email for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.