Portrait of Laila Susanne Vars

Portraits of indigenous people participating in the conference “The Peoples’ Arctic: Unified for a Better Tomorrow”, the second such conference hosted by the Save the Pechora Committee and Greenpeace, meant to connect Indigenous communities from around the Arctic and foster better relationships between Indigenous Peoples and environmental groups.

On the eve of the Arctic Council meeting taking place on the 15th May 2013, 15 more Indigenous groups and individuals have signed onto a joint statement rejecting oil development in the Arctic. The coalition now includes major Indigenous organisations from every Arctic state, including two organizations that are permanent participants on the Arctic Council. The move demonstrates that there is growing opposition to Arctic oil drilling amongst the Indigenous communities who will be most affected by the industrialisation of their territories and would feel the first impacts of an oil spill.