ABSTRACT
Globally, Indigenous Peoples suffer the most from the effects of climate change, contributing the least to its causes. Across Canada, the effects of climate change are experienced by all three constitutionally recognized Indigenous groups: First Nations, Metis, and Inuit. The most extreme effects of global warming, however, are felt in the Arctic: a region home to the Inuit and warming about four times faster than the world as a whole. The Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) is an Indigenous Peoples Organization (IPO) that works to strengthen Inuit unity, promote Inuit rights and interests, seek full and active partnership in the development of the region, and encourage and create long-term policies for Arctic environmental protection. Through a chronological overview of the ICC's environmental activism and advocacy – from the 1970s to the early 21st century – this chapter illustrates an Inuit perspective on environmental justice in the face of climate change. ICC has been a trailblazer in shaping international climate change knowledge and policies – defining climate change as a human rights violation, organizing the first international climate change conference for Indigenous Peoples, or being the first IPO to obtain participant, consultative, or observer status in international platforms that address climate change effects.
