Inuit Circumpolar Council is claiming victory after getting a promise from the International Maritime Organization that Indigenous knowledge will be included in plans to reduce underwater noise created by ships.
Making use of its provisional consultative status at an IMO sub-committee in Anchorage, Alaska on Jan. 24, ICC Canada’s international vice president Lisa Koperqualuk called for “the Terms of Reference for the work plan on underwater noise explicitly includes engagement and utilization of Indigenous knowledge” on Jan. 24. Koperqualuk was able to use the newly acquired observer status to point out the rights of Indigenous peoples under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“As a UN body, the IMO must consider and fully implement UNDRIP, including in our collective work here today,” she said. “We are the first Indigenous organization to be granted this status and it’s our hope that it will be the beginning of a new relationship between the IMO and its members with Indigenous people throughout the world, and more specifically in the Arctic.
“Inuit depend upon shipping for essential goods and services, and Inuit communities also depend on the sea for livelihoods and food. Our economy and culture depend on safe, low impact, and clean shipping.”
Traditional knowledge will now be included in a work plan intended to reduce underwater noise caused by ship traffic. Current IMO noise pollution reduction guidelines are complete voluntary, which has lead to very few shipping companies picking up the extra expense to implement it. However, underwater noise pollution can be disruptive to the ecology on a number of levels, most concerning the Inuit is the affect on sea mammals, who are unable to communicate over the noise.
Water is a much thicker medium than air and sound travels faster and further through it. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, potentially up to thousands of kilometres. While whales are the most known victim of noise pollution, the rapid increase of human activity in the worlds oceans over the past century has also affected turtles, fish, invertebrates and other animals.
It’s not just ships moving through the water making the noise either — major causes of noise pollution below the waves include seismic testing for minerals and energy resources, military tests of explosives, sonar, and dredging equipment in construction.
Dealing with all this noise has consequences for animals, from cutting off lines of communication between whale pod members to scaring away schools of fish from their normal migration routes. At times, the noise can grow loud enough to injure the ears of underwater creatures as well.
ICC spokesperson Carole Simon said it was encouraging to see the IMO willing to listen to Indigenous voices, considering the seriousness of the issue.
“Global rules on underwater noise pollution reduction will now reflect local Inuit concerns and community input,” she wrote. “The ICC seat at the IMO has enabled national input and an opportunity for national Inuit interests to be represented.”