Inuit leader to give evidence against airport expansion at Stansted Public Inquiry
will highlight the impacts of climate change which are already being experienced
in the Arctic and call for a halt to the airport expansion proposals which would
add to the global warming burden which is already affecting the traditional Inuit
way of life. On Wednesday 25 July he will address MPs at the Houses of Parliament
about the frontline impacts of climate change. "Climate change is not just a
theory to us in the Arctic; it is a stark and dangerous reality. Human-induced
climate change is undermining the ecosystem upon which Inuit depend for their
physical and cultural survival," says Mr Lynge. "You may say that the expansion
of London Stansted Airport will play only a small part in increasing climate change
but everyone can say that about almost everything they do. It is an excuse for
doing nothing. The result of that attitude would be catastrophic. The serious
consequences affecting my people today will affect your people tomorrow," he will
warn. In February 2003, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) passed a resolution effectively recognizing the Arctic as a “barometer”
or “indicator region” of the globe’s environmental health. This resolution called
upon Arctic states to significantly increase environmental monitoring arrangements
in the Arctic. Commenting ahead of Mr Lynge’s appearance, SSE Campaign Director
Carol Barbone said: "Stansted will be the litmus test of the seriousness of the
Government’s commitment to properly tackling the climate change issue. If Gordon
Brown doesn’t grasp that nettle then his claims about acting to address global
warming will be exposed as mere platitudes.”
capped at 25 million passengers per annum, which could result in the eventual
doubling passenger throughput and an increase in the number of flights from 192,000
(latest 12 months total) to 264,000 annually. (SSE Press Release 20.7.2007)