Further reflections on the Arctic Council
You probably won’t be surprised to hear that up here on the ice, we’ve been talking a lot about the Arctic Council over the last couple of days.
We feel like what happened with Gustaf Lind and the Arctic Council this week is a microcosm of the problems with it as an organisation. Unless you’re already in the clique, you’re locked out and have no voice. We’re carrying the names of nearly three million people with us, who were all ignored yesterday. We wanted to deliver a simple message on behalf of all these people but they didn’t want to hear.
We wonder why an organisation that is devoted to protecting the Artic would choose not to meet with this group of young people, who want to ensure it remains sacred and intact for future generations? Are they interested in what young people have to say, or do we need to own giant oil companies before we get invited into the club?
It would have been so easy to meet us out here; we were so nearby. Perhaps we’re not the right kind of young people, ones who might say awkward things about climate change and thinking for the long term. Perhaps they were scared of four young people causing a scene and upsetting their cosy meetig. Well, this snub only makes us more determined.
Gustaf Lind has invited Josefina to Stockholm to meet with him. Ezra is going too, and both will ask him why as the chair of the Arctic Council he did not insist on this meeting.
2013-04-12 03:53:27
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