Post by Okwes on Jun 6, 2007 15:06:57 GMT -5
Inuit Accuse US of Destroying Their Way of Life with Global Warming
by Andrew Buncombe
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.
by Andrew Buncombe
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.
