摘要：Climate change will have far-reaching implications for Inuit health. Focusing on adaptation offers a proactive approach for managing climate-related health risks—one that views Inuit populations as active agents in planning and responding at household, community, and regional levels. Adaptation can direct attention to the root causes of climate vulnerability and emphasize the importance of traditional knowledge regarding environmental change and adaptive strategies. An evidence base on adaptation options and processes for Inuit regions is currently lacking, however, thus constraining climate policy development. In this article, we tackled this deficit, drawing upon our understanding of the determinants of health vulnerability to climate change in Canada to propose key considerations for adaptation decision-making in an Inuit context. The Canadian Arctic is widely regarded as a global hotspot of the effects of current and future climate change. 1–4 The risks of climate change are significant, challenging human rights, livelihoods, and health. 5,6 Aboriginal populations, particularly Inuit, have been identified as highly vulnerable to these changes. 7 Such framing, however, can portray Northern populations as powerless victims of climate change, overlooking how social, cultural, and economic conditions determine how climate change is experienced, understood, and responded to, downplaying the resilience of communities and overlooking adaptation. As Costello et al. 8 noted, the time is right in the climate–health field to move from catastrophic fatalism to positive action, and to identify, develop, and implement adaptation strategies to moderate the health effects of climate change. This is a daunting challenge, compounded by limited research on adaptation in the public health field, but the urgency, inevitability, and reality of health effects compels us to focus more seriously on finding ways to adapt. To inform debate in this emerging policy area, we outline key considerations for adaptation to the health effects of climate change for Inuit in Canada. In doing so, we seek to initiate debate among researchers, policymakers, practitioners, Inuit organizations, and community leaders on how best to proceed with adaptation.
