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ARCTIC ATHABASKAN COUNCIL News Release Arctic Indigenous Peoples Unveil Statement on Climate Change 6/12/05 Arctic Indigenous leaders from the circumpolar world today unveiled their statement to the high-level segment of the Eleventh Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The statement was released during Arctic Day at the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP11) being held in Montreal, Canada. Chickaloon Village Chief Gary Harrison, representing Arctic Indigenous organizations presented a statement today to UNFCCC COP11 President Stéphane Dion, challenging nation states to recognize the impact global warming on the Arctic environment and to accelerate actions on mitigation and adaptation. The presentation included the gift of a Tlingit hand-carved mask of Mother Earth Weeping. “Our bottom line is that climate change threatens to deprive us of our rights, of our rights to sustain ourselves as we have done for thousands of years,” said Harrison, who is also International Chair of Arctic Athabaskan Council. “Arctic Indigenous peoples are threatened with the extinction or catastrophic decline of entire bird, fish and wildlife populations, including species of caribou, seals, and fish critical to our food security”, he said. “Changes in habitat, the loss of reindeer pasture, and migration routes for fish, wildlife, and migratory birds are the inevitable consequences of the disappearance of Arctic ice and the warming of the Arctic region. This has the potential for catastrophic damage to millennia-old Arctic indigenous cultures.” The statement, prepared by representatives of Arctic Indigenous peoples organizations gathered in Montreal prior to a meeting of Arctic Indigenous leaders and representative organizations taking place in Hay River, N.W.T. next week, calls upon delegates to the COP to give special consideration to Arctic indigenous perspectives and the needs of the region in terms of the ongoing research and decisions of the UNFCCC. “We urge countries to take the necessary action that will lead to a reduction in change,” added Chief Harrison. “There is no question that we would rather see no change in our climate, but we know that change is coming; we already see its effects. We are alarmed about the cumulative impacts of climate change and the increasing pace of resource development, and the significant risk this poses for the survival of our cultures. We need help now, to adapt our traditional economies and occupations to the new realities.” Leaders and representatives of Arctic Indigenous organizations will meet in Hay River, Northwest Territories, December 11 & 12 to discuss Arctic oil and gas development, a follow-up plan of action to COP11, and opportunities presented by International Polar Year to address both issues. For more information, contact: Gary Harrison Noeline Villebrun David Roddick |
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