Joanna Petrasek MacDonald

• Master of Arts
• Manager - Knowledge Mobilization at Rideau Hall Foundation

Indigenous Peoples’ advocacy and contributions to climate action have drawn international attention, including from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This article assesses to which degree the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) recognises the role and knowledge systems of Indigenous Peoples. Through a content analysis of the Wo...

The IPCC has been successful at building its scientific authority, but it will require institutional reform for staying relevant to new and changing political contexts. Exploring a range of alternative future pathways for the IPCC can help guide crucial decisions about redefining its purpose. With the release of its Synthesis Report in March 2023,...

Indigenous Peoples have been emphatic: the climate crisis will not be solved by the same paradigm that caused it. Their advocacy, coupled with a growing acknowledgement of Indigenous knowledge systems' contributions to climate action and transformative change, has drawn international attention, including from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate...

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has become a hugely influential institution. It is the authoritative voice on the science on climate change, and an exemplar of an intergovernmental science-policy interface. This book introduces the IPCC as an institution, covering its origins, history, processes, participants, products, and inf...

In 2020, the Inuit Circumpolar Council Alaska (ICC Alaska) published the Food Sovereignty and Self-Governance: Inuit Role in Managing Arctic Marine Resources report. The report examines Inuit management and co-management practices and approaches to distill lessons that can apply across geographic boundaries. The 144-page report is co-authored by In...

El 4 de abril de 2022, el Grupo Intergubernamental de Expertos sobre el Cambio Climático (IPCC) publicó un informe sobre la mitigación del cambio climático –la contribución del Grupo de Trabajo III al Sexto informe de evaluación (AR6)–. Para responder a este informe, de manera conjunta, IWGIA, el Consejo Circumpolar Inuit, la Federación de Nacional...

On 4 April 2022, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report on Mitigation of Climate Change – the contribution of the Working Group III (WGIII) to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). In response to this, IWGIA, the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) and Pastoralists Indig...

IWGIA in collaboration with the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) and Pastoralists Indigenous NGO Forum (PINGO’s Forum) presents a briefing note analysing the findings of the IPCC report concerning Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, the briefing note proposes a series of recommendations to enhance I...

En colaboración con el Consejo Circumpolar Inuit (ICC), la Federación de Nacionalidades Indígenas de Nepal (NEFIN) y el Foro de ONG Pastoralistas Indígenas (PINGO's Forum), presenta una nota analítica que aborda las conclusiones del informe respecto a los Pueblos Indígenas. Además, la nota analítica de IWGIA propone una serie de recomendaciones par...

If climate change is the “biggest health threat of the century,” what does this mean for regions experiencing the fastest warming on the planet? To respond to key Inuit health risks, we call for Inuit self-determination in climate-health research, underpinned by Inuit knowledge, Inuit-led approaches, and decolonization of research processes.

Access to adequate food has been identified as a major challenge in the Canadian Arctic, particularly for Inuit communities. Since 2001 food insecurity prevalence in Nunavut has ranged from 25% to 70%. In addressing this serious issue, one objective of the Nunavut Food Security Coalition’s Nunavut Food Security Strategy is to explore sustainable co...

Food insecurity is widely reported to be at a crisis level in the Inuit territory of Nunavut, Canada. Various policies, programs, and initiatives have been proposed to tackle the problem, with increasing interest in developing a system of country food markets (CFMs) similar to Greenland. We examine if CFMs offer a feasible, sustainable, and effecti...

Rapid climatic and environmental changes experienced throughout the Canadian North are having significant impacts on the lives of Inuit, with implications for the future of the large Inuit youth population. Within the adaptation research and practitioner community, youth voices, perspectives, and involvement are essential in ensuring representative...

Indigenous people living in the Circumpolar North rely, to varying degrees, on the natural environment and the resources it provides for their lifestyle and livelihoods. As a consequence, these Northern Indigenous peoples may be more sensitive to global climate change, which has implications for food security, cultural practices, and health and wel...

Objectives: To review the protective factors and causal mechanisms which promote and enhance Indigenous youth mental health in the Circumpolar North. Study design: A systematic literature review of peer-reviewed English-language research was conducted to systematically examine the protective factors and causal mechanisms which promote and enhance I...

Globally, youth voices and their experiences, observations, and perceptions about climatic and environmental change and variability are relatively absent in published literature to date. To address this gap, the goal of this research was to explore the observations and perceptions of climate change held by youth (12-25 years old) in the Inuit commu...