Arctic Athabaskan Council\u2019s petition to the Inter-American Commission on human rights and climate change\u2014business as usual or a breakthrough?

Agnieszka Szpak

doi:10.1007/s10584-020-02826-y

Abstract

In 2013, the Arctic Athabaskan Council representing the Arctic Athabaskan peoples filed a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The Council sought relief for violations of their rights resulting from rapid Arctic warming and melting caused by emissions of black carbon by Canada. The aim of the paper is to show legal complaints and arguments of a particular indigenous people, Arctic Athabaskans—arguments intended to enforce Canada’s obligation to reduce or eliminate black carbon emissions, which negatively affect numerous rights of indigenous Athabaskans. Additionally, the article will point to the new legal developments and potential success of those arguments and litigation itself. The article analyses issues at the intersection of human rights, indigenous peoples and climate change. The concluding remarks attempt to answer the research questions and offer some reflections on the potential to protect indigenous peoples’ rights offered by this type of advocacy strategy and, more specifically, the petition in particular. The research method adopted is that of legal-institutional analysis as well as content analysis of relevant literature (analysis of the discourse). This paper moves forward existing climate litigation literature which focuses on human rights. As Osofsky and Peel (2018) highlight, human rights-based climate litigation is a new development in the field, and this paper expands it further.

Highlights

Predictions regarding climate change consider its effects to be severe in the case of polar regions and their inhabitants
The environmental damage caused by accelerating warming in the Arctic threatens with particular severity the indigenous peoples living in this area and their human rights
According to the petition (2013, p. 57)and considering how closely indigenous peoples’ environment is tied to their human rights, as well as the special status assigned to indigenous peoples under international law, Canada is obliged to ensure that Arctic Athabaskan peoples are protected from environmental degradation that may lead to violation of their human rights

Summary

Introduction

Predictions regarding climate change consider its effects to be severe in the case of polar regions and their inhabitants. The environmental damage caused by accelerating warming in the Arctic threatens with particular severity the indigenous peoples living in this area (including Athabaskan peoples) and their human rights Their survival as well as maintenance of their cultural identity and beliefs is connected to their traditional means of subsistence and strongly based on their connection to their natural environment. The Athabaskan peoples depend for subsistence, health, property and culture on said environment and its biodiversity, which are directly threatened and degraded by black carbon pollution The biggest challenge the petitioners face is the obligation to provide a proof of a legally sufficient nexus between the acts or omissions of the government of Canada and the harm caused by climate change

Review of literature and methodology

Background—climate change and human rights