On July 9, at the 134th meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Council, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) was granted permanent consultative status. This is a significant milestone, as ICC has become the first Indigenous organization to receive consultative status at the IMO.
While there has been a perception that Indigenous peoples are represented at the IMO by the delegations of the countries in which they reside, and that their representatives may also attend with other NGOs, this is limiting. There is often a lack of consistency in Indigenous attendance — for instance, during the Obama administration, it was common for Indigenous representatives to be invited to IMO meetings, but that practice was discontinued during the Trump administration. In addition, Indigenous attendees were often reluctant to speak in public for fear of being misidentified as speaking on behalf of the country or NGO with whom they were attending.
For these reasons, ICC’s consultative status is a very significant achievement — ensuring that Indigenous voices are present and heard directly.
Inuit peoples — who have long depended on marine mammals and ocean life for food security — live in the coastal regions of four Arctic countries:
Since its founding in the 1970s, ICC has represented these communities at the international level. Their experience includes active participation at the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Arctic Council, the Convention on Biodiversity, and other international forums. Given this background, it makes sense that ICC is part of the IMO, where decisions on shipping regulations are made. They initially applied for membership in 2021.
I’ve been fortunate to work with ICC since 2007, when I joined the Aleut International Association. One of my first experiences with Pacific Environment (PE) was when attending a meeting, organized by PE, between all six Permanent Participants (organizations representing the Indigenous Peoples of the Arctic to the Arctic Council) and the IMO secretary-general. This meeting took place alongside an Arctic Council gathering in Juneau, Alaska, in 2016.
Shortly after joining Pacific Environment in December 2017, I helped organize a workshop on the IMO for Indigenous leaders in Anchorage. Later, in 2019, the IMO applied for and received observer status at the Arctic Council, and during a reception at the IMO, I asked the secretary-general why the organization had applied to the Council. He explained it was because of meaningful conversations he’d had with Arctic Indigenous representatives who convinced him of the importance of the Arctic to the planet, and the effects that shipping had on the region. Between 2016 and 2021, Pacific Environment hosted Indigenous representatives from ICC and other organizations at the IMO and helped arrange direct conversations with IMO leadership.
After applying in 2021, ICC was granted consultative status under a two-year probationary period — a common requirement for new NGOs. But when ICC’s status came up for review in 2023, opposition by Russia and China led the IMO Council to take the unusual step of requiring a second two-year probationary period — something not previously seen before. Despite this, ICC continued their work at the IMO. And earlier this month — still under strong opposition from Russia and China — ICC was finally granted permanent consultative status.
The importance of Indigenous peoples being able to speak with their own voices at international forums can’t be overstated. At Pacific Environment, this principle has been at the heart of our approach to conservation since the very beginning. Huge congratulations to ICC on their important achievement!
Want to learn more? Read ICC’s full press release on this historic achievement.
