Inuit group says US climate policy violates human rights

[JURIST] The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) [advocacy website], representing Inuit indigenous peoples in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia, has filed a petition [PDF text; summary, PDF] with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) [official website] accusing the US government of violating Inuit human rights by failing to adequately fight the thaw of Arctic ice. The ICC argues that climate change is undermining Inuit hunting culture and is tantamount to human rights abuse [ICC press release]. The ICC is hoping for a declaration that US climate policies breach the 1948 American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and international laws and has asked the IACHR to recommend that the US adopt mandatory limits on emissions of greenhouse gases. The ICC said in June that it planned to file the petition [JURIST report], but the actual filing coincides with the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference [official website; JURIST report], where 189 nations are discussing ways to fight global warming. The Kyoto Protocol [text] mandates that signatories curb their greenhouse gas emissions, but the US withdrew from the agreement in 2001. Reuters has more.


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