Why the Arctic is central to climate change negotiations

As nations meet to discuss the impacts of climate change and promote their interests in the lead-up to the negotiations in Copenhagen in December, we hope that one element of the big picture does not get lost -- the critical role of the Arctic region.

An international agreement reached in Copenhagen that does not safeguard the Arctic will be mere window-dressing. The Arctic ice and tundra act as a vital cooling system for our planet. Without white ice to reflect heat and light, the planet will absorb additional heat that will exacerbate global warming.

And as the ice melts, massive quantities of greenhouse gases currently trapped in our frozen lands and waters will be released, which could negate the positive efforts to reduce greenhouse gases elsewhere around the globe. Further warming will also imperil the homes and livelihoods of the millions of people around the world who live within feet of current sea level.

All people of the globe rely on the Arctic's cold. Yet we must also remember that the Arctic is home to four million people, including 30 different indigenous peoples whose cultures are intrinsically tied to this frozen environment. At the current level of global warming, the Arctic ice and the species who live on and beneath the ice are at risk, which in turn endangers the livelihood and cultures of the indigenous peoples who have made the ice-covered North home for millennia.

Despite the laudable leadership shown by the Obama administration on climate change issues, the goals recently set out by the United States for an international agreement are not sufficient to safeguard the Arctic. The Arctic and our planet require more.

With this in mind, and with the interest of protecting this critical region in its entirety, we joined the Aspen Institute's non-partisan Commission on Arctic Climate Change last year. Together, as a group of 14 leaders from the scientific community, public office, corporations and indigenous communities, we are working to highlight the importance of the Arctic as a critical global resource. We hope that the United States, the seven other Arctic nations, and leaders the world over will recognize what is at stake and lead the world to safeguard this region come December.

Last April 24, indigenous people from around the world convened in Alaska at the Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change.

Participants at the Summit stated: "Mother Earth is no longer in a period of climate change, but in climate crisis. We therefore insist on an immediate end to the destruction and desecration of the elements of life."

We can only hope that the world's leaders feel the same urgency.

Patricia Cochran is chairwoman of the Indigenous People's Global Summit on Climate Change and former chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Council. She lives in Alaska. Sheila Watt-Cloutier is an Inuit environmental and human rights activist and a former chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Council. She lives in Nunavut.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 27, 2009 A11