Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of technology and social organisation on the environment's ability to meet present and fu-
ture needs.” We should never forget that this is the definition of sustainable development.
Arctic indigenous peoples have produced a number of extremely dedicated people
over the last 25 years whose passion for doing what is right rubbed off on us all. I was for-
tunatetolearnfromandworkwithsomeofthesepeople,includingCindyDixon,Rosemar-
ie Kuptana, Aggaluk Lynge, Leif Halonen, Gunn-Britt Retter, Mary Simon, Sheila Watt-
Cloutier and Pavel Sulyandziga. Of course, being from Canada, it was with Mary Simon
and Sheila Watt-Cloutier that I spent the most time. In addition to forcefully advocating
indigenous rights, Mary was convinced that circumpolar Arctic cooperation would be far
more effective if such cooperation could operate by adopting the principles of sustainable
development. By the early 1990s, she had moved from being the president of the Inuit
Circumpolar Council (ICC) to being Canada's ambassador for circumpolar affairs. In this
role, she chaired negotiations that led to the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy be-
ing subsumed into a new organisation: the Arctic Council. This metamorphosis created a
potentially more powerful organisation because the Arctic Council is composed of minis-
ters responsible for foreign affairs of the participating countries. It is largely due to Mary
Simon's tenacity that it came to pass. In theory, the Arctic Council has the clout to orches-
trate great achievements.
Finally, once more, we come to Sheila Watt-Cloutier. I first met Sheila at the begin-
ning of her 1995-2001 tenure as president of ICC Canada, a role she then continued as the
international president of the ICC. She is a passionate and uncompromising advocate for
the fundamental rights of Inuit people and of their “oneness” with the Arctic environment.
But her passion for the well-being of Inuit never prevents her from being concerned about
the well-being of us all - wherever we live. Time and again, I have been fascinated as she
has captured the sympathy of a room full of sceptics. You will have seen glimpses of Sheila
in action from the quotes and anecdotes of her work in the sections on the Stockholm Con-
vention. It is from Sheila that we should learn the wisdom of negotiating an agreement that
gets the job done while leaving everyone proud of the achievement. For readers interested
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