What You Can Do
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, environmental, cultural and human rights advocate
1. “Learn from COVID-19. It has given us a chance to pause and think about the connection between viruses, environmental degradation, and climate change. People blame bats for the virus, but actually it is industry that has affected the wildlife. We owe it to ourselves to take a hard look at what we’re doing to this planet of ours.”
Harvard’s Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment connects the dots between the corona virus and climate change.
2. “Listen to – and learn from -- the world’s indigenous people, and make sure our voices are heard at local, regional, national and international levels. Be sure we are supported to take part in the global process.”
UNESCO acknowledges, “Indigenous knowledge operates at a much finer spatial and temporal scale than science, and includes understandings of how to cope with and adapt to environmental variability and trends.”
3. “Learn more about the human dimension of climate change. Indigenous knowledge, including a respect for the environment, as well as empathy and respect for one another, should be taught in elementary schools, secondary schools, and universities.”
Already, indigenous knowledge of climate change is being taught in some universities.
4. “Bring back the heartbeat of life, the spiritual way in which we can live and work together. We can’t overestimate the power of art, performance, story, and ceremony to bring purpose and pride. If we can stop ‘othering’ each other and, instead, relate through soul, spirit, and understanding, we can create a better world.”
Sheila’s book, The Right to be Cold, tells the rich story of her life, climate leadership, and Inuit traditions.