The face of climate change: how Inuit youth lead the fight to save the Arctic

Maatalii Okalik is taking the young voice of the Canadian Arctic to the global climate change talks in Paris: 'We're the ones really affected by it'

Maatalii Okalik is tired of seeing polar bears as the face of climate change. "Make it an Inuit face. We're the ones that are really affected by it," she told the Guardian in a phone interview from Paris.

At the Paris climate conference, the bear is a trope on banners and posters. Politicians and activists are taking note of the Arctic's plight, invoking sprawling vistas and vulnerable wildlife as a cautionary tale. "This summer, I saw the effects of climate change first-hand in our northernmost state, Alaska," Barack Obama said in his opening remarks at the conference. "Where the sea is already swallowing villages and eroding shorelines; where permafrost thaws and the tundra burns; where glaciers are melting at a pace unprecedented in modern times."