Due to Mandela's moral stature, his words could bring critical attention to the neglected issue of Arctic pollution, Watt-Cloutier said. If Nelson Mandela even glances toward the Inuit, so too will the world. Such attention will be critical if the POPs treaty is to be ratified and implemented. About 130 of the world's nations have been working on the agreement for more than two years, but serious hurdles remain before the document is signed and goes into effect. Cloutier said the ultimate goal of the UN treaty is to stop environmental contaminants at their source.
POPs derive from sources like pesticides, dioxins and industrial chemicals.
Though they can travel anywhere in the world, they tend to concentrate in the North, where colder temperatures cause them to settle out of the air. There, they build up in the fat of game animals like polar bear, walrus and seals, and are passed along to people who eat country food. Though diets high in animal fat put Inuit at particular risk, no one is safe from these pollutants, Cloutier said. This is an early warning for the rest of the world. Though the ICC will attend the POPs conference in South Africa in an observer role, the Inuit have been intimately involved with the actual drafting of the treaty.