In this issue…■ IISD and the CYLP at the

Association of CanadianUniversities for NorthernStudies Conference

■ Climate Change Starts with Me

■ Circumpolar Young LeadersProgram Training

■ Power Shift Canada: Youth taking action against climatechange

■ Alberta’s Tar Sands and COP15:A sticky problem

■ Norway’s Climate andCryosphere Project

ARCTIC FUTUREThe Circumpolar International Internship Newsletter

Issue 13, November 2009

IISD and the CYLP at the Association ofCanadian Universities for Northern StudiesConferenceHarry Borlase, former CYLP Intern at the University of the Arctic, 2007–2008

This past October, I had the pleasure of presenting a paper on behalf of IISD atthe ninth Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies (ACUNS)Student Conference in Whitehorse, Yukon. At the conference, I was given thetask of presenting the findings from IISD’s “Securing a Sustainable Future in theArctic: Engaging and training the next generation of Northern leaders,”authored by Carolee Buckler, Laura Normand and former CYLP intern LindaWright. The topic of Northern leadership fit perfectly with the theme of theevent, Communities of Change: Building an IPY Legacy. The conference wasattended by some 250 participants, including students from around the globe,many leading senior scientists, faculty and staff from Yukon College, as well asWhitehorse residents.

In a way, my job as a presenter was easy. The hard work of conducting theresearch and preparing the paper paved the way for a fruitful presentation anddiscussion that focussed on some of the major topics related to Northernengagement, including: an appraisal of the existing opportunities, barriers toparticipation and key characteristics of young Northern leaders. Of particularinterest to the audience were the recommendations, which emphasized govern-ment commitment towards improving leadership capacity within the educationsystem and increasing financial support for active organizations. There was ageneral consensus that research on capacity-building in the North is particularlycrucial to Northern development and that such a discussion is timely, given therecent push for a university located in the North.

The fact that the conference was held in Whitehorse is significant. Research andthe dissemination of knowledge is an important component of capacity-buildingand public engagement. It is apparent that the improvement of leadershipopportunities in the North requires more than just scientific thought; it requiresthe capability of communities to become engaged in how these processes areshaped and nurtured. Whitehorse has also been the hometown for many CYLPpast interns. This may be a testament to the community’s emphasis on youthdevelopment and supportive environment for leadership opportunities.

Thanks need to be extended to Carolee Buckler, former Project Manager forIISD’s Knowledge Communications and CYLP Coordinator. Carolee’s dedica-tion to not only the CYLP, but also to Northern development in general, wastireless. Her enthusiasm and connection with the North transcended the closerelationship she had with CYLP interns, and reached Northern communitieswho valued her emphasis on training and professional development. PerhapsCarolee’s legacy lies in the “Securing a Sustainable Future in the Arctic” paper,which outlines a clear path for leadership development in the North and IISD’scontinued commitment to Canada’s Northern youth.

The eight circumpolar countries(Canada, Denmark [Greenland],Finland, Norway, United States,Russia, Sweden and Iceland) that sit aspermanent participants on the ArcticCouncil will continue to carry theimmense task of sustainably managing

their political and economic develop-ment. This is not to say that the gov-ernments did not manage their affairsin the past, but since the climate israpidly changing the environment,there is a growing interest in how toadapt to these changes.

How is Canada adapting to environ-mental changes? One simple answer isthrough Canada’s Northern Strategy.This federally organized political tool isgaining momentum in Canada’s Norththrough its four strategic areas: 1) exer-cising Arctic sovereignty; 2) protectingenvironmental heritage; 3) promotingsocial and economic development; and4) improving and devolving Northerngovernance. With these four strategicareas, the federal government willmaintain political control over itsNorthern territory and also adapt tothe changing environment.

Wait just one minute. A stakeholderthat cannot be ignored by governingbodies is civil society itself and itsinterest in climate change. Successfulyouth movements such as the PowerShift Canada 2009, which took placefrom October 23–26 in Ottawa, havelobbied the elected officials of Canadafor “greener” approaches to gover-nance. There is an emerging synergythat is taking place between the stateand the civil society with respect to“greener” ways of governing the popu-lation, but does this actually mean that“greener” policies and ways of gover-nance will be developed? Yes, it does,but there is one mitigating factor: me.Me, the individual; a single person canplay a large role in climate change.

It is helpful when the federal govern-ment and environmental groups tellme to reduce my carbon footprint, butI do not need someone’s approval tomake greener choices in my lifestyle.Change involves simple things, such asbuying my own coffee mug rather thanalways using the disposable cups, orrecycling my cans and bottles, etc. Attimes, I think we forget how muchimpact we have on the world becausewe depend on other powers to make adifference for us. Climate change startswith my choices! And this is how I willcontribute to making a difference.

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Youth get ready to march on Parliament Hill.

Climate Change Starts with MeBy: Elizabeth Zarpa, CYL intern

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The Circumpolar Young Leaders(CYL) program was started in 1999 bythe International Institute forSustainable Development (IISD), inpartnership with the Arctic Council’sSustainable Development WorkingGroup. The program was establishedin order to help young people gain theskills, networks and power to influencecurrent decision-makers on importantissues that will affect the Arctic by thetime they take their leadership roles inthe future. This year’s interns quicklyestablished close bonds because oftheir shared desire to enlighten otheryouth in the North to empower themto take charge of their future, affectchange in their communities and bringto light the major environmentalchanges occurring in the Arctic.

There are four interns in the 2009CYL program: Calista Morrison fromWhitehorse, Yukon; Elizabeth Zarpafrom Happy Valley, Labrador; and

continued on page 5Circumpolar Young Leaders Program 2009 interns (l to r): Calista Morrison, Elizabeth Zarpa, Jesse Tungilik andNapatsi Folger.

Circumpolar Young Leaders Program TrainingBy: Napatsi Folger, CYL intern

Power Shift Canada: Youth taking action against climate changeBy: Janice Grey

The weeks leading up to Power ShiftCanada were among the most stressfulweeks of my life. By the time theweekend came around, I went inthinking that I just couldn’t wait for itto end. I’m sure most of my fellow stu-dents who attended felt the same wayinitially, as it fell right in the middle ofmid-term season. I had been trying fora month to recruit people from upNorth, but I kept running into prob-lems, from a lack of funding andtransportation, to a lack of interestfrom communities, who were unwill-ing to put time into outreach. Pile that

on top of studying for mid-terms,finding a new apartment and lookingfor a job, it was really kind of a night-mare.

I have to admit that, if I wasn’trequired to go as a member of theCanadian Youth Delegation (CYD), Imight have chosen to stay in Montrealand just tackle my mile-high to-do list.But the day came when I had to geton that train to Ottawa, and I wasfinally able to take a breath and absorbthe fact that I was about to be part ofthe biggest youth climate change eventin Canadian history! I went two days

prior to the event to attend my CYDretreat, which was amazing in itself!

At the CYD retreat, I got to meetmost of the team that I will be goingto Copenhagen with this comingDecember. We had two very intensedays together before all dissolving intothe crazy world of Power Shift. Wediscussed our objectives and goals as ateam, what we would and would notbe willing to do in terms of actionsand protests, among many other top-ics. We even got to meet with the continued on page 4

Power Shift Canada: Youth taking action against climatechangecontinued from page 3

Environment Minister Jim Prenticeand Canada’s lead negotiator, MichaelMartin. After finalizing our respectivePower Shift workshops—the CYDArctic Team presented on impacts ofclimate change in the North, whichwas quite successful—we all just losteach other in the vastness of PowerShift Canada.

It is difficult to explain in words theamazing energy that filled the air thatweekend! Ottawa was alive with thepassion and dedication of Canada’s cli-mate change leaders and I was luckyenough to be part of it. Fill the Hill,the October 24 protest on ParliamentHill, did not get the media attention itdeserved, but gave me a huge sense ofpride in the youth of this nation. Thatafternoon, we came together, united bythe biggest threat to our very existence,and we told the government that wewill not stand for anything less then afair treaty in Copenhagen! We shutdown Stephen Harper’s voice mail!

Unfortunately, media outlets could nothave cared less about the couple ofthousand demonstrators who stood inthe cold rain for hours. The only thingthey reported were the protests atQuestion Period, which is sad becausethey focused more on the actualprotests than on the reasons behindthem. When I attended QuestionPeriod, one of my friends was injuredduring a scuffle and another one of myfriends had the back of his shirt torn.Both of those people were harmless,they were peacefully conveying a mes-sage that MPs just didn’t want to hear.So please, when you see headlines like“was the blood real?” or “violent clash-es at question period,” take them witha grain of salt. Remember that thesepeople are just fighting for our future.

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Erica Young of Winnipeg’s EcoNetwork stands up for Green Jobs at the Power Shift Canada march onParliament Hill.

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Circumpolar Young LeadersProgram Trainingcontinued from page 3

Jesse Tungilik and Napatsi Folger fromIqaluit, Nunavut. Their internships aretaking place within various institutionsall over the circumpolar world, withone intern at IISD headquarters inWinnipeg, Manitoba. The internsattended an intensive, six-day trainingsession in Winnipeg to prepare fortheir placements.

One topic was particularly helpful tothe interns, regardless of their destina-tions: former IISD intern DagmarTimmer described her experienceswith culture shock and being homesick. She said that it is really importantto remember that people carry on nor-

mally after you leave home and thatyou have to put in the effort to keepin contact. This does not mean theydon’t love you or miss you; usually it ismuch more difficult for the peoplewho left all their loved ones becausethey are alone. She said not to be dis-couraged. She also pointed out thatwhat surprised her most was the cul-ture shock she experienced when shereturned to Canada after being abroadfor so long. It was a relief to hearDagmar’s advice because it came fromsomebody who had experiencedinternship firsthand, who had been inthe same position the interns wereabout to be thrown into.

The training modules covered team-building, sustainable development,

effective communication, networkingand collaboration, climate change,stakeholder engagement and funddevelopment. It was a very full andbeneficial week, and the interns wereglad to have the opportunity to meetand learn from some very talented andexperienced people throughout theirtraining. Carolee Buckler was theProject Manager for GlobalConnectivity at IISD in charge ofselecting and organizing the interns.She was very supportive and helpful.The interns were all sad to see her gowhen she moved on to become theSustainable Development Coordinatorfor Manitoba Education, Citizenshipand Youth, but wish her well at hernew and exciting job!

Alberta’s Tar Sands and COP15: A sticky problemBy Jesse Tungilik, CYL intern

The Athabasca Oil Sands, colloquiallyknown as the tar sands, contain largedeposits of extremely heavy crude oilcalled bitumen mixed with silica sand,clay minerals and water. The largest ofthe three main deposits that make upthe Athabasca Oil Sands project islocated in the Fort McMurray, Albertaarea and is home to the AthabascaChipweyan First Nation and theMikisew Cree First Nation people.

The Athabasca Oil Sands represent anestimated 170 billion barrels of eco-nomically recoverable oil, which makesCanada’s total oil reserves second onlyto Saudi Arabia. As of 2006, theAthabasca Oil Sands Project made up47 per cent of all oil produced inCanada. Given this fact, it is unsur-prising that there are strong forcesbehind the project to ensure its devel-opment. But what impact does the tarsands have on Canada’s commitmentsto reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

This is what Clayton Thomas-Mullerrefers to as “the elephant in the room”

when it comes to the question ofwhether Canada will meet its commit-ments to the Kyoto agreement andwhy Canada is expected to opposerobust reductions of greenhouse gasemissions at the upcoming COP15 inCopenhagen.

Clayton is a Cree man fromPukatawagan, Northern Manitoba(Mathais Colomb Cree Nation) and isan outspoken indigenous rights andenvironmental justice activist. He isthe tar sands campaigner for theIndigenous Environmental Networkand is a vigorous opponent of thedevelopment and expansion of theAthabasca Oil Sands project.

While the tar sands are strategicallyimportant to Canada’s economic inter-ests, producing oil is also incrediblydestructive to the environment. Theprocess to refine the viscous bitumeninto oil requires vast amounts of waterand energy resources. In fact, the

continued on page 6 Alberta Tar Sands protestors arrive in the earlymorning to catch government officials on their wayto work.

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Alberta’s Tar Sands and COP15:A sticky problemcontinued from page 5

process of recovering oil requiresalmost as much energy input as the oilcontains at the end of the processing.The ecological footprint of theapproved tar sands projects and its tail-ings pond is already larger in area thanVancouver Island and is expected togrow to 90,720 square kilometers insize.

The Canadian government has pro-posed to reduce emissions from 2006levels by 20 per cent by 2020. If suc-cessful, Canadian emissions would be2.7 per cent below 1990 levels; underKyoto, Canada committed to cuttingits greenhouse gases from 1990 levelsby 6 per cent by 2012.

In contrast, the European Union haspledged to reduce emissions from1990 levels by 30 per cent by 2020, ifother developed countries wouldaccept similar reductions. TheAmerican climate legislation sets a tar-get of a 17 per cent reduction from2005 levels by 2020, but its reductionsare more aggressive than Canada’s insubsequent years.

The Canadian government has saidthat it will not release its detailed cli-mate-change plan, which includes pro-posed emissions caps on large emitterssuch as the oil sands, until it is clearerhow the United States intends to pro-ceed in global climate-change talks inCopenhagen in December, and whatan international treaty would look like.Canada has continued to insist that itshould have less aggressive targets foremission reductions than Europe orJapan because of its faster-growingpopulation and energy-intensive indus-trial structure.

The Alberta Oil Sands development isconsidered to be the single largest con-tributor to emissions growth inCanada. Canada will struggle withachieving significant reductions in car-bon emissions while the tar sands con-tinue to be developed under a busi-ness-as-usual model. So, as the world

descends upon Copenhagen inDecember for COP15, Canada willhave a difficult time justifying why

other countries should reduce emis-sions while tar sands development isbeing expanded in its own backyard.

Protesting in front of Parliament October 26, 2009.

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My internship with the CircumpolarYoung Leaders Program placed me atthe Climate and Cryosphere (CliC)Project Office in Tromsø, Norway. Myexperience, so far, has taken me in aninteresting direction. My responsibili-ties lie less with coordinating youth onArctic issues or delving into policywork. Instead, I’ve spent my timeworking with scientists.

The cryosphere touches more regionsof the globe than one might imagine.Think about it for a moment: snow,sea ice, ice caps, glaciers, ice sheets, iceshelves and permafrost are all examplesof the cryosphere. When you add cli-mate to the mix, the scope gets evenlarger. There are ice and snow at theNorth and South poles, but the cryos-

phere surpasses Polar Regions. It isglobal.

CliC is one daughter project of theWorld Climate Research Programme.For CliC to tackle such incredibletasks as the climate and cryosphere,they must approach it from all angles.CliC has four main themes thatencompass the cryosphere and how itinteracts with atmosphere and oceansystems, water and carbon cycles, sea-level rise, as well as global predictions.It is evident that anyone taking on theclimate has their hands full.

Working at such a global level is noeasy task. Research is carried out allover the world, at all times. Whetherthese scientific endeavours answer

questions or create more, the necessityto coordinate is essential. Exchanginginformation among countries andagencies helps make science produc-tive. If two people are working on thesame project, asking similar or relatedquestions, would it not make sense tocollaborate, combine efforts, or simplyshare findings? CliC works with scien-tists from all continents. Everyoneinvolved comes from different organi-zations, countries and cultures, creat-ing a network that is constantlyexpanding and evolving. Internationalcollaboration among organizations,researchers and policy-makers ulti-mately builds relationships and a cru-cial sense of community. continued on page 8

Norway’s Climate and Cryosphere Project By Calista Morrison, CYL intern

An example of the cryosphere in the breathtaking Norwegian landscape.

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Arctic Future is published by the InternationalInstitute for Sustainable Development and funded byCircumpolar Liaison Directorate, Indian and NorthernAffairs Canada.

The Circumpolar Young Leaders Internship Program isfunded by the Aboriginal and Circumpolar AffairsDivision for Foreign Affairs Canada and the CanadaProgram for International Polar Year

Editor: Napatsi Folger

Graphic Design: Don Berg

Contributors: Harry Borlase, Napatsi Folger, JaniceGrey, Calista Morrison, Jesse Tungilik, Elizabeth Zarpa

The views expressed in Arctic Future do not necessar-ily reflect those of IISD or its funders.

The International Institute for SustainableDevelopment contributes to sustainable developmentby advancing policy recommendations on interna-tional trade and investment, economic policy, climatechange, measurement and assessment, and naturalresources management. Through the Internet, wereport on international negotiations and share knowl-edge gained through collaborative projects withglobal partners, resulting in more rigorous research,capacity building in developing countries and betterdialogue between North and South.

IISD’s vision is better living for all—sustainably; itsmission is to champion innovation, enabling soci-eties to live sustainably. IISD is registered as a char-itable organization in Canada and has 501(c)(3) sta-tus in the United States. IISD receives core operatingsupport from the Government of Canada, providedthrough the Canadian International DevelopmentAgency (CIDA), the International DevelopmentResearch Centre (IDRC) and Environment Canada; andfrom the Province of Manitoba. The Institute receivesproject funding from numerous governments insideand outside Canada, United Nations agencies, foun-dations and the private sector.

E-mail: info@iisd.caWeb site: http://www.iisd.org

161 Portage Avenue East6th FloorWinnipeg, ManitobaCanada R3B 0Y4Tel: +1 (204) 958-7700Fax: +1 (204) 958-7710

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Norway’s Climate and Cryosphere Project continued from page 7

I often have mixed feelings as to whether or not the world has become a small-er place with technology. Novel resources such as the Internet, Skype, e-mailsand conference calls are incredible for relaying information among scientists,stakeholders and policy-makers around the globe. However, despite our bestadvances, we have those subtle reminders of the distance still between us.Conference calls at 8 am on one side of the world happen at midnight on theother. International collaboration is a struggle that requires finesse in organiza-tion, patience and a sense of dependability.

A comforting fact is that working within an organization like CliC gives you aglimpse at how many people are studying the climate and how the world ischanging around us. There are people all over the globe, from expert scientiststo budding grad students, coordinators, communication officers and assistantsto those brave souls balancing the budgets, all essentially playing a role in amuch larger game. I find that comforting. Climate change is a global phenom-enon, and our efforts are evolving to match it. People are working towardschange; more people than you might think.

Calista Morrison looks out onto the Red River.