A/HRC/54/31/Add.1 The Inughuit people have yet to obtain fair and just compensation for the relocation and consequent loss of ancestral land and resources. 49. The Special Rapporteur was informed that, under the 1951 Agreement on the Defence of Greenland, several military activities were carried out in the Inuit territories without consultation and their free, prior and informed consent. Those early activities of the United States military, including Camp Century, left oil and diesel barrels, radioactive material and other types of hazardous waste. Another concern raised relates to the launch of rockets in the Arctic Sea in 2017 by the European Space Agency, as the debris left behind can potentially contaminate an area of vital hunting resources.14 50. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the agreement in 2018 between the Governments of Denmark and Greenland on the removal and clean-up of military waste at former United States military locations. However, he expresses concern about the lack of effective remedies for the adverse impact of military activities on the collective rights of Inuit people. F. Climate change impact and conservation measures 51. Three out of four residents in Greenland say that they have personally experienced the effects of climate change.15 The thawing of the permafrost has serious implications for the livelihoods and housing of communities throughout the Arctic, as it leads to soil layers changing or collapsing. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that climate change in the Arctic leads to a high to very high risk of loss of biodiversity in Arctic ecosystems. Animal species on and around the sea ice, including marine mammals and fish stocks, are threatened by the disappearing ice, causing disturbances throughout the food chain.16 It is reported that, in recent years, the ice sheet has lost approximately 166 billion tonnes during a 12-month period. Those data raise particular concern as the Inuit people’s culture, lifestyle and scientific knowledge of hunting, fishing, agriculture and navigation greatly depend on the environment. 52. Family hunting and fishing remain key for Inuit food supplies. According to a 2019 study, 76 per cent of the diet in Greenland is partly from wild foods that people hunt, fish or gather.17 Those hunting and fishing practices are integrated into the everyday lives of Inuit families as part of their culture and traditions. However, climate change has altered the abundance of species such as reindeer and the availability of fish stocks and affected the behaviour of sea mammals, thereby making Inuit fishing and hunting less accessible. 53. Inuit people expressed concern about the loss of language and knowledge, livelihoods and economic, social and cultural values, for hunters and fishers, in particular, but also for society in general. Hunting and fishing are integrated parts of Inuit culture, also for those who are not professional hunters and fishers. In Sisimiut, Inuit hunters and fishers informed the Special Rapporteur that the reduction of permafrost and sea ice made travel on the ice more dangerous, diminished access to locally resourced foods and led to illness when food could not be properly stored. Due to the reduction of supplies from those traditional activities, some families and small settlements face high food prices and food security issues. 18 54. Regarding ancestral hunting, the Special Rapporteur noted that decisions taken in the European Union, notably the ban on selling seal products on its market, have, even with the exemption for seal products from Inuit communities, effectively destroyed the market for sealskins. That, in turn, has negatively affected the sociocultural and economic development of Greenland, including the food security of the Inuit. Seals in Greenland are not an endangered species. 14 15 16 17 18 10 A/HRC/39/48/Add.2, para. 68. Kelton Minor and others, Greenlandic Perspectives on Climate Change 2018–2019: Results from a National Survey (University of Greenland, University of Copenhagen and Kraks Fond Institute for Urban Research, 2019), p. 22. Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities of Denmark. Minor and others, Greenlandic Perspectives on Climate Change 2018–2019, p. 60. See www.globalasia.org/v15no4/cover/we-live-in-the-arctic-inside-greenland-looking-out_saraolsvig. GE.23-13414