Don't melt away our future, Inuit leader tells airlines

An Inuit leader told airlines today that flying was a factor in climate change and his people's future was under threat.

Aqqaluk Lynge, head of Greenland's Inuit Circumpolar Council and member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, said plans to increase flights to and from the UK should be blocked.

"Climate change is not just a theory to us in the Arctic - it is a stark and dangerous reality," said Mr Lynge, who is giving evidence today to an public inquiry into plans to expand Stansted Airport.

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"Human-induced climate change is undermining the eco-system upon which Inuit depend for their physical and cultural survival.

"You may say the expansion of Stansted Airport will play only a small part in increasing climate change but everyone can say that about almost everything they do.

"It is an excuse for doing nothing. The result of that attitude would be catastrophic."

He was asked to give evidence at the inquiry at Stansted, near Chelmsford, Essex - by locals opposing the expansion.

BAA - the British Airports Authority - wants to raise the number of flights leaving Stansted from 241,000 to 264,000 a year and remove the current cap of 25 million passengers a year.

BAA argues that expansion is essential to the economy and in line with government policy.

Mr Lynge was an MP in Greenland and is a former housing and environment minister.