Arctic Voices Global Warming Tour

The Arctic is increasingly vulnerable to global processes, and is melting dramatically. The findings of the 2004 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) are clear: human-induced global warming is severely affecting the Arctic here and now and will significantly impact every aspect of life in the region. The polar region serves as the environmental early warning system for the impacts the rest of the world will soon experience. The ACIA findings confirm the observations that Arctic indigenous peoples—eyewitnesses on the front line of climate change today— have been making for three decades: ice conditions and the behavior of animals have been changing; invasive species are moving north; weather has become dangerously unpredictable; and, more recently, whole villages are rapidly eroding into the sea. If these changes continue unabated, the age-old culture of Arctic indigenous peoples will quite literally melt away.

As part of our Engaging Arctic Voices initiative, Circumpolar Conservation Union (CCU), in association with the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples Secretariat, will bring Arctic indigenous leaders as spokespersons on a multi-state Arctic Voices Global Warming Tour from April 28th - May 8th. The tour will enable this unique delegation to share their stories in key venues as they press the U.S. to act immediately to curb global warming and protect all of its citizens from the impacts of climate change..

While polls show that a majority of Americans now believe global warming is happening, they still do not believe that it will soon affect them directly, nor do they understand that only a narrow window of opportunity remains to ensure the long-term well-being of our planet and our society. Arctic indigenous peoples’ ability to show the “human face” of global warming, and to personalize the impacts of climate change, resonates with audiences and moves them in a way that no recitation of scientific evidence can achieve.

The Tour will travel to Little Rock, AR; the Twin Cities in Minnesota; Cleveland, OH; and Warrenton, Virginia; all key states in the policy debate on global warming. We will also stop in Washington, D.C. to present to policy-makers. Our tour speaks to the ethical imperative for immediate action to end global warming pollution. We have engaged partners in the faith, indigenous, and university communities in our states, and are employing the expertise of San Francisco-based Resource Media to aid in communications for the tour.

Arctic indigenous leaders Olav-Mathis Eira, Vice-President of the Saami Council; Sarah James, Board Member fo the Gwich'in Steering Committee and Goldman Environmental prizewinner; and Sheila Watt-Cloutier, United Nations Champion of the Earth, former Chair of Inuit Circumpolar Conference and recent Nobel Peace Prize nominee are now engaged in the Tour.

These leaders are also committed to the next step of Engaging Arctic Voices through the establishment an Arctic Resource Center, and will be speaking to the need for the Center in order to raise the profile of current and pending Arctic threats, and to ensure the long-term involvement of Arctic peoples in policy-formation in our Nation's capital.

Please visit our Tour Schedule and Speaker Biographies for more information. For more updates of the tour, please visit our www.arcticpeoples.org.