Circumpolar Inuit set development conditions

Mary Simon, national Inuit leader, welcomed the release of the Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Resource Development Principles in Inuit Nunaat (Inuit Nunaat refers to the Inuit homeland across the circumpolar region.) The five-page declaration was signed on May 11 in Nuuk, Greenland, by international Inuit leaders gathered there for the Arctic Council ministerial meeting.

“Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami [ITK] very much supports this declaration, and I congratulate my fellow Inuit leaders for its development and signing,” said President Simon. ITK is an Ottawa-based organization representing 55,000 Inuit in 53 communities from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. In this declaration and its earlier companion, A Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic, Inuit from countries around the circumpolar world are speaking in a united voice on their expectations for the development of their homeland resources.

“The world is on notice that while Inuit look forward to new forms and levels of economic development, the use of resources in the Arctic must be conducted in a sustainable and environmentally responsible way and must deliver direct and substantial benefits to Inuit,” said Simon.

The resource-development declaration takes into account the diverse economic, social and political needs of Inuit in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia.