To be clear and accurate, the Inuit Circumpolar Council is an international non-governmental organization, as you have stated, consisting of approximately 160,000 Inuit throughout our four member countries. I believe that the declarations we've adopted, including the one I've referenced already, the resource development declaration, and the declaration we have adopted on Arctic sovereignty and our particular interest throughout the Arctic region, can be very instructive in terms of our interest in becoming more self-sufficient. When these are combined with the comprehensive land claims agreements and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, not only do we have clear rights and title to lands, territories and resources but we also have responsibilities. Some of those responsibilities have already been highlighted by this committee in terms of ensuring that the quality of life of our individual members as well as our communities can in fact be enhanced and improved.
The Inuit Circumpolar Council is not a rights-holding institution, but the objectives that we have attempted to move forward, including these declarations but also the 2017 Circumpolar Inuit Economic Summit, pointed to the need to look at the opportunities for sustainable and equitable development that is Inuit-driven so that we can achieve self-sufficiency. Some of these may in fact include natural energy resource development; again it really depends on the people concerned.