Contested framings of climate change and health in the Arctic: A narrative analysis of health in Canadian government climate change policy affecting Inuit Nunangat

Narratives are used to make sense of the world, to understand complex challenges and to imagine change. Inequity and unequal power structures are understood to be the root causes of disasters, but dominant narratives frame climate change as an ‘externalised’ threat and propose technocratic approaches to defending the status quo. This distracts from solutions that address the root causes of disaster. In Inuit Nunangat, social determinants of health include ongoing colonialism and policy, shaping Inuit experiences of climate change. This paper reports the results of a narrative analysis of Canadian governmental climate and health policy documents relevant to Inuit Nunangat between 2015 and 2021. Narratives are deconstructed and common narratives are identified, drawing from Burke’s Dramatistic Pentad. The dominant narrative identified focuses on knowledge, technological innovation and resilience, externalising the threat of climate change and proposing solutions that leverage knowledge and innovation. A second narrative highlights collective responsibility and partnership, identifying inequity as a driver of harm but not engaging with power relations when detailing solutions. A third narrative, present in fewer documents, centres sovereignty and relationships, identifies inequities and colonial policy as drivers of harm in the context of climate change, and proposes solutions that address root causes and further Indigenous sovereignty. How we tell the ‘story’ of climate change determines how we act and adapt. If dominant policy narratives distract from addressing the root causes of harm, inequities and violence will be perpetuated through inappropriate actions and missed opportunities. Narratives identified in this analysis offer other ways of telling this story.