Sheila Watt-Cloutier

There is another way to advocate for the protection of our planet: demanding that the international community recognize environmental well-being as a fundamental human right. Without a stable and secure climate, people cannot exercise their economic, social, and cultural rights. For the Inuit, as for all of us, this is what I call “the right to cold.”

This unique phrase, “the right to cold,” sums up the spirit of the struggle that Sheila Watt-Cloutier has waged for more than 20 years on the international stage to make climate change a human rights issue. It was under her presidency of the Inuit Circumpolar Council that a petition to this effect was filed in 2005 with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the first international legal action of its kind. Since the culture and economic autonomy of the Inuit depend on cold weather and ice, anthropogenic global warming constitutes a denial of their social, cultural, and health rights. “The impact of climate change on the Arctic is a precursor to what awaits the rest of the world,” she says.

From her childhood in Kuujjuaq, in northern Quebec—at a time when the traditional Inuit culture of dog sledding and ice hunting was still dominant—to her commitment to the environment in international forums, Le droit au froid is the story of an inspiring woman who has become a model of leadership for the 21st century.

Paperback | 360 pages
21.6 x 13.3 cm (8.5 x 5.2 in.) 
Publication Date: 2019