MISSION AND PROGRAMS

MISSION

Founded in 1993, the Circumpolar Conservation Union (CCU) has a mission that remains relevant and pressing today: to protect the ecological and cultural integrity of the Arctic for present and future generations. CCU works to promote understanding and cooperation among Arctic indigenous peoples, environmental organizations and other diverse interests to raise public awareness of and build a global constituency for the Arctic. It advocates for environmental protection, sustainability, and human rights to create and implement policies, mechanisms, and institutions beneficial to the region.

PROGRAMS

TIn pursuit of our mission, CCU focuses its efforts in three areas: global warming, transboundary contaminants, and capacity building for Arctic advocacy. The successful strategies we have employed are promoting dialogue and cooperation among diverse interests; public education, awareness and constituency building; and law and policy advocacy.

Global Warming Program

Climate change in the Arctic is impacting people now. During the past several decades, the Arctic has warmed at an alarming rate producing a devastating impact on ecosystems, including sea ice, permafrost, forests, and tundra. Resulting storm surges and erosion are causing several coastal villages in Alaska to develop relocation plans. CCU recognizes the urgent need to mitigate the effects of global warming and respects the role and knowledge of Arctic indigenous peoples as key stakeholders and spokespeople experiencing spiraling changes in the environment that threaten their traditional way of life. We are working to build awareness and political will for reducing global warming pollution by reengaging the American public and policymakers at the local, national and international levels in the global warming debate. Our focus in this area commenced in 2000, in conjunction with the initiation of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) - a milestone four-year multinational assessment of climate change in the Arctic, produced as a major initiative of the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee. Completed and released in November 2004, the ACIA is the most comprehensive regional study of climate change ever undertaken and clearly evidences both the dramatic changes that have begun throughout the Arctic and the region’s role as a barometer of global environmental change. CCU vigorously promotes the ACIA and Arctic indigenous perspectives on the human toll of global warming, educating the public, promote energy alternatives, and advocates for a more responsible posture in U.S. climate policy.

Our activities have included:
CCU held pre- and post-release briefings on the ACIA with Dr. Robert Corell, Chair of the Assessment, and Arctic indigenous peoples that participated in its development.
Since late 2005, CCU has worked with our Arctic indigenous allies, including the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples Secretariat, to plan a 2007 Arctic Voices Global Warming Tour of key states in the U.S. policy debate on climate change.

Transboundary Contaminants Program

CCU’s goal is to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the flow of persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals that are contaminating the Northern environment and peoples. Our specific objectives are to end emissions of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), brominated flame retardants, mercury, and other heavy metals in the environment, by advocating for effective implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. POPs and heavy metals, such as mercury, released in the mid-latitudes, are producing worrying impacts on the environment and human health worldwide, particularly in the Arctic, which is a “sink” for such chemicals. This is because they resist degradation in the environment, bioaccumulate as they move up the food chain, and migrate via air and water to cooler places. In the Arctic, they are causing serious health implications, particularly for fetal and neonatal development. Furthermore, global warming is likely to compound the problem, because as Arctic glaciers melt, previously trapped POPs are released back into the atmosphere.

Our activities have included:
Since 1998, CCU worked on a northern contaminants and health initiative to mobilize support for reducing public health threats from persistent chemicals in Alaska by providing information to the public, educating policy makers, and engaging Alaskans in the negotiation and signing of a global treaty to eliminate the production and use of POPs.
Released in October 2000 at a Senate briefing, CCU produced a report entitled Persistent Organic Pollutants in Alaska: What Does Science Tell Us? The accompanying map is also available for viewing.

Capacity Building for Arctic Advocacy Program

While the Arctic has been long neglected as a remote and sparsely populated area of little interest to policymakers, the region has recently become a focus of attention as a planetary early warning system for environmental impacts. It is critical that indigenous and Arctic peoples—those most immediately and severely impacted by climate change and transboundary contaminants—participate in and inform policy debates at the local, national, and international levels. Our goal in this program area is to increase the capacity of CCU, indigenous peoples organizations, and our other Arctic allies to participate in environmental and human rights education and advocacy efforts.

Our activities have included:
In 2003, after a year-long series of consultation with the six Arctic Indigeous Peoples Organizations who participate in the Arctic Council, produced a concept paper on the establishment of an Arctic Resource Center (ARC) in Washington, DC as a mechanism to raise the profile of these issues and strengthen the voice of the Arctic’s indigenous peoples in key environmental policy debates.
In 2005, CCU designed and convened media trainings to strengthen the communications capacity of our Alaskan and Arctic indigenous allies.