Inuit Circumpolar Council: Indigenous Peoples’ Organisation Representing at the Arctic Council!
The Inuit
Circumpolar Council (ICC), founded in 1977, is one of the largest, and most influential,
indigenous peoples' organisations in the Arctic. It is considered one of the
major international non-governmental organisations (NGO) aimed at promoting
indigenous peoples' rights. Its membership is approximately 180,000, representing
territories of four Arctic countries including Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Russia
(Chukotka) and the United States (Alaska). The ICC is a platform that unites
all Inuit in these countries to speak with one voice. Its primary goals are to
address common challenges facing the Inuit people resulting from the
transformation of the Arctic, its seaways, resources and environment. The ICC
is committed to strengthening Inuit solidarity; to protect their common
interests and rights; to promote their way of life, and to make their concerns
known and voices heard at the regional and international level. Since
1983, the ICC has enjoyed Consultative Status II at the United Nations Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC), and actively participates in consultation
processes on the rights of Arctic indigenous peoples. At the Arctic Council,
the ICC serves as one of the six Permanent Participants.
The collective
knowledge of the ICC is reflected in policy papers to advance understanding the
Arctic and its environment. It also strengthens partnerships with both global
and regional governments and organisations and contributes to policy
development in the spheres of Arctic politics, economy and society. The Inuit
consider the Arctic to be their homeland. The ICC has produced several
declarations stating how the Inuit, as an original people of the Arctic, expect
the Arctic to be governed and developed. For example, in 2009, the ICC adopted
the Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic. While the term sovereignty
referred to, does not imply a Westphalian system (the foundation for the
creation of sovereign nation-states), the Declaration calls for the right to
exercise greater self-determination in the face of economic opportunities and
challenges their homeland may experience as a result of global warming. The ICC
calls for the Arctic and its resources to be governed responsibly, paying due
attention to sustainable development, and ensuring that such practices directly
benefit the Inuit people.
One of
the ground-breaking actions of the ICC was a petition to the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 2005. The petition asked for relief for
human rights violations resulting from the impacts of climate change. It focused
on the United States as having failed to recognise, by its inaction, the threat
of greenhouse gas emissions and refusing to cooperate with international
efforts to fight climate change. Although not resulting in any specific legal consequences,
the petition is widely referenced in the context of climate change and human
rights; in particular, concerning the rights of indigenous peoples. The
petition suggested novel climate rights, in which legal arguments
co-exist with research-based scientific knowledge, and the oral testimony of
Inuit as an indigenous people. The people suffer the impacts of climate change,
which affect their rights to, among others, practice their traditional
livelihoods. In this regard, the ICC petition was significant in demonstrating
the need to comply with international climate change regulations for the
protection of the human rights of indigenous peoples.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/20070803.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Ae053c0eeddc6d29217eef1050d0ce32c
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