Environment Forum
Global environmental challenges
Human “Message from the North” to climate negotiators
If you want to send a message, the old Hollywood saying goes, call Western Union. But environmental activists chose a different medium to get through to climate change negotiators: they put their bodies on the line — in this case, the Alaskan tundra — to spell out “Save The Arctic” and sketch the outline of a caribou.
Members of the Gwich’in Nation gathered last weekend near Arctic Village, Alaska, to send what they called a “Message from the North” to environmental diplomats gathering this week in Bonn, Germany.
The Alaskan activists want permanent protection from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, on the far northern edge of Alaska where caribou roam, along with urgent action to address climate change.
The Gwich’in people, who live in this area, were celebrating 20 years of activism to prevent oil drilling in the refuge. But climate change is a new and increasing threat, and even without drilling, they say the region has seen some of the most extreme impacts of global warming.
