The Future of a Melting Arctic: Implications for Indigenous Rights

In her memoir, The Right to Be Cold , Inuk leader and activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier reflected on the transformative change happening to the Arctic and argued that preserving the Arctic and Inuit cultural survival are one and the same. 1 As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted, Arctic warming is affecting people’s livelihoods, cultural practices, economies, and self-determination. 2 Much like elsewhere in the world, the histories and cultures of Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic are multiple and distinct. As the melting of the cryosphere accelerates, environmental changes threaten Indigenous Peoples’ ability to maintain their traditional livelihoods, culture, and rights, and simultaneously open the region to global economic activities. This creates a “double bind” for Arctic Indigenous Peoples. On one hand, they face the loss of traditional territories through environmental degradation due to anthropogenic climate change. On the other hand, they face a new wave of political and legal encroachment in the form of climate mitigation, including mineral extraction and renewable energy projects on Indigenous lands.