Jun
18
Written by:
5th World Congress Blogger
6/18/2008 6:15 PM
As an Inuit and an advocate for preserving the environment and the traditional way of life of Inuit peoples, Sheila Watt-Cloutier spoke of both the effects of climate change on human rights and the importance of scientists and indigenous peoples working together to share knowledge and expertise.
How are climate change and human rights connected? “In every way,”said Ms. Watt-Cloutier. In 2005, she launched the world’s first international legal action on climate change, based on the findings of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment warning that Inuit hunting culture would likely not survive the loss of sea ice and other climate changes over the next few decades.
Watt-Cloutier, along with 62 Inuit Hunters and Elders, filed a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that unchecked emissions of greenhouse gases from the U.S. have violated Inuit cultural and environmental rights as guaranteed by the 1948 American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. Although the petition was rejected, it allowed Ms. Watt-Cloutier to bring world attention to “the enormous historical and environmental changes going on in the Arctic”.
Such changes include persistent organic pollutants (POPs) entering the Arctic food chain via the weather, CFCs depleting the ozone layer and increasing UV radiation, melting glaciers, sea ice and permafrost resulting in erosion, rising sea levels and loss of mobility for animals and humans, and the introduction of new, competitive species into the warming Arctic. According to a recent estimate in the science journal Nature, noted Ms. Watt-Cloutier, the Arctic may be ice-free by 2030, or even as soon as 2013.
Ms. Watt-Cloutier outlined some of the basic human rights of Inuit society currently being challenged by climate change – such as the right to health, subsistence, culture, safety, security, even “the right to be cold”.
Ms. Watt-Cloutier, who was born in Nunavik in northern Quebec, has personally experienced the enormous changes the Arctic has undergone over the past half century, recalling travelling by dog sled for the first ten years of her life. She stressed the importance of maintaining the traditional hunting culture of the North, saying that hunting was not only necessary to maintain environmental balance, it also provided a training ground for youth to develop survival skills for living in both traditional and urban societies.
She explained that hunting allowed young people to develop judgment, patience, courage, and ways to deal with stress. Most important of all said Ms. Watt-Cloutier, was learning “How not to be impulsive…in a modern, stress-filled world”. As traditional practices like these disappear through climate change, she added, more and more Inuit are experiencing substance abuse and suicide, especially young people. She noted that climate change was also eroding the traditional wisdoms – indigenous knowledge that needs to be shared and balanced with modern science in order to save our planet. “We must do all we can to lend voices to indigenous peoples,”said Ms. Watt-Cloutier, saying that they are “the best and closest observers of our changing environment”.
Ms. Watt-Cloutier reported that the United Nations has since recognized climate change as a human rights issue – that adding a human dimension to economic, political and environmental issues was the best way to “change public opinion into public policy”.
“Climate change challenges our belief that unrestrained economic growth will always lead to a better world,”said Ms. Watt-Cloutier. She added that climate change is affecting those who “contribute to it the least but have the most to lose”. “We’re all in this together,”said Ms. Watts-Cloutier, “We’re all a shared humanity,” and stated that we should “act on climate change as quickly as we possibly can”.
Dr. Hassan, President of the African Academy of Sciences and Executive Director of TWAS – the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable development in the South – raised issues similar to Ms. Watt-Cloutier, only from a different geographical and cultural perspective.
Dr. Hassan explained that Africa is rich in traditional knowledge, natural resources and biodiversity but currently lacks access to, and the resources, for higher education in science, technology and innovation (STI). He said that 35 out of 50 of the world’s poorest countries are in Africa, a continent of enormous human resources: more than 922 million people.
Calling for many more world-class, homegrown African scientists, Dr. Hassan said that training in STI is what’s needed to cope with the challenges of our changing planet – particularly in the fields of biotechnology, wireless communications, nanotechnology and space science. He lamented the “brain drain” of young people who go off to university in North America or Europe and never return, saying it would be better and cheaper to educate people in their native countries.
He explained that Africa required educational reforms, such as more world-class research universities, more centres for excellence in technology and innovation, and more schools where students could learn how to problem-solve. What’s more, said Dr. Hassan, “Each country should have at least one science centre,” saying that currently only five African countries have science centres where students can be engaged and stimulated by hands-on, inquiry-based activities.
Dr. Hassam added that collaboration between such science centres and educational institutions would provide ideal opportunities to network and share best practices and experiences among young and old. What Africa needs, he said, is “a shining example from one of their poorer countries” to provide the momentum to develop the resources to address issues such as sustainability and climate change.
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