BRIDGING LEGAL GAPS AND EMPOWERING INDIGENOUS GOVERNANCE: TOWARDS A COMPREHENSIVE IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF SHIPPING FRAMEWORK FOR ARCTIC CANADA

Abstract

The Arctic is undergoing rapid change due to climate change, leading to increased shipping for resource extraction. In Canada’s Arctic waters, particularly Nunavut, this rise presents serious environmental, social, and cultural risks for Inuit communities. Current impact assessment legal frameworks do not sufficiently address the unique, cumulative, and transboundary impacts of Arctic shipping, nor do they meaningfully integrate Inuit Traditional Ecological Knowledge and customary law perspectives. This research critiques Canada’s fragmented legal approach and draws lessons from Indigenous-centred, marine-focused frameworks in jurisdictions such as Greenland and other Arctic states. It calls for a unified, Indigenous rights-based impact assessment regime that meaningfully integrates Inuit governance, emphasizes marine protection, and incorporates adaptive, proactive mechanisms. Grounded in legal pluralism, environmental justice, and Indigenous self-determination, this study reimagines Arctic shipping assessments as more inclusive, coherent, and ecologically responsible processes that reflect the Arctic’s interconnected realities.