The NunatuKavut Community Council is stressing the importance of having Indigenous voices inform climate change research.

Members of the NCC were in New York City over the past week for the United Nations Forum on Indigenous Issues.

The NCC addressed the forum on the massive impacts climate change is having on northern Indigenous communities.

Dr. Amy Hudson, Governance and Strategic Planning Lead and Associate Negotiator with the NCC, says in their communities, they are rapidly seeing the disappearance of sea ice.

She says in many communities sea ice is a “highway”, connecting them to traditional lands, food, and knowledge.

Hudson stresses the need to have representation in government decisions.

She says researchers and scientists are saying that Indigenous voices, experiences, and research is increasingly important to respond to climate change.