On Monday, I had the privilege of delivering a guest lecture to third- and fourth-year undergraduate students at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC). The students were all taking part in the UNBC Geography Department’s course ‘Changing Arctic: Human and Environmental Systems’, convened by Prof Gail Fondahl. My lecture was entitled ‘”Greenshit go home” …
Tag: environment
Cecil, Nanuq and Inuk
Public outrage over the death of Cecil the lion at the hands of a sport hunter is calling into question the Canadian polar bear sport hunt—and threatening the valuable cultural and economic benefits that Canadian Inuit gain from it.
The Arctic affects us all, just not equally
‘What happens in the Arctic affects us all’ may well be true. But today’s popular slogan for the fight against climate change must not be used to justify putting our own needs and interests above those of Arctic peoples.
Straining to hear the Arctic voice
Despite Greenpeace’s recent attempts to align their Arctic campaign with indigenous peoples such as the Inuit, their new ‘global survey’ on Arctic industrial development continues their pattern of discounting the Arctic voice.
Remarks on Greenpeace and Clyde River in The Arctic Journal
Recently, journalist Kevin McGwin of Greenland’s The Arctic Journal asked me to comment on the budding relationship between Greenpeace and the Inuit community of Clyde River in Nunavut. Their common cause against seismic exploration in Baffin Bay has caused some surprise, not least because Greenpeace’s reputation amongst Inuit has scraped rock-bottom since the anti-sealing protests of …
Lecture at University of Chichester
I’m delighted to have been invited to speak at the University of Chichester tomorrow, March 28, as part of the History Department’s lecture series on contemporary politics. Making use of a popular slogan in Greenland, I’ve entitled my talk “‘Greenshit go home!’ Greenpeace, Greenland and green colonialism in the Arctic”. My focus will be the …
A breathing hole for Arctic hunters
The defeat of proposed bans on commercial sealing and the international polar bear trade gives some welcome breathing space to Inuit and other Arctic hunting peoples—at least for now.
Presentation at IUCN-Shell Arctic workshop
I’m delighted to have been invited to Oxford on March 24 and 25 to participate in a workshop on sustainable development in the Arctic. My hosts will be the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Royal Dutch Shell, who are collaborating on a project to develop cross-sector standards for industrial activity in …
A polar bear ban that doesn’t bear scrutiny
A proposal to prohibit international commercial trade in polar bears would do little to protect an already well-protected animal further, but much to damage Inuit economic rights and interests.
Sealing (and) the deal with Europe
Northerners shouldn’t worry that Canada will abandon its challenge to the EU’s seal-trade ban in favour of a free-trade deal with the EU, but they should worry instead about the damage the ban has done to the very idea of Inuit as economic actors in the modern marketplace.