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President of the Inuit people talks about climate change in the Arctic

10 December 2009

In the run-up to Copenhagen, Mary Simon, President of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, talked to Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê about the impact of climate change on the lives of the indigenous people of the Canadian Arctic.

"My message is that climate change is not abstract; it is about people's lives" she commented.

The contamination of food sources, the breaking up of Inuit houses as the Arctic permafrost melts, the disruption of the traditional rhythms of Inuit life - these are some of the ways that climate change is affecting the community, she said.

Mary Simon had come to Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê for a public discussion with Ernest Massiah, Head of Health of the Commonwealth Secretariat about the Inuit agenda for saving the Arctic.

The occasion was a event organised by Beacon Fellow Professor David Napier (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Medical Anthropology), run by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Medical Anthropology and hosted at the British Museum - a highlight of an ongoing public series called 'Making Things Better', which is exploring issues to do with migration and wellbeing, covering issues as diverse as human trafficking and religion.

Dr Rodney Reynolds (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Medical Anthropology) is co-organiser of 'Making Things Better'. He said: "The Making Things Better talks intend to think about health and wellbeing in a broad-based and creative way and to capture the perspective of people's everyday lives.Ìý We hope to understand how living with various health circumstances create unexpected impacts and to suggest what we as global citizens can do to lesson those and improve people's lives."

Watch the video to hear Mary Simon's account of climate change on Inuit life.


Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Context

'Making Things Better' listings