Inuit Leader Natan Obed fights for a voice on climate change

"Our environment is alive, just like you and I, and if we do not respect it and take care of it, we will end up with an outcome even we can't fix."- Tommy Inuaraq, an elder from Clyde River, Nunavut.

While delegates from every corner of the globe gather in Paris for the climate change conference, there are few who truly understand the urgency of global warming as much as those who live in Canada's North do.

In the North, the difference of just a few degrees, is the difference between a way of life surviving... or fading away.

And so it seems fitting that part of Canada's delegation to Paris includes a leader who can represent both the Inuit people's past traditions... and its future.

At 39 years of age, Natan Obed became one of the youngest national Inuit leaders ever in September when he was elected president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization representing some 60,000 Inuit. 

Natan Obed has already emerged as a strong voice for Inuit interests in Canada.

And a strong voice is just what's needed right now, as the world discusses an issue of life-or-death importance for the North.

Natan Obed joined Anna Maria from our Paris studio.    

This segment was produced by Halifax Network Prodcuer, Mary Lynk.