Watt-Cloutier says Earth wins with peace prize decision

By her own admission, Sheila Watt-Cloutier is not a morning person.

"I think this is the most work I've done before 9 a.m.," she said, driving from a radio interview to a photo shoot, before driving to a news conference.

And while last Friday morning was a hectic one, it could have been much, much busier.

Watt-Cloutier, 53, was up before 4 a.m. that day to await a possible phone call informing her she'd just won the Nobel Peace Prize, but that call never came.

Instead, former U.S. vice-president Al Gore, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, split the prestigious award. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the decision was to recognize "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

At a news conference in Iqaluit, Watt-Cloutier told reporters she's only a little disappointed by the committee's decision.

"As long as the Earth is a winner I am pleased at the outcome," she said.

That outcome was somewhat of a surprise, because Watt-Cloutier and Gore were nominated jointly by two Norwegian lawmakers. And Agence France Presse reported Oct. 11 that Norwegian TV channel NRK – which has a history of accurately predicting winners – picked Gore, the IPCC and Watt-Cloutier to win.

But in the halls of CBC's Iqaluit studio, where Watt-Cloutier spent much of her day, well-wishers offered hugs and congratulations. And members of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, the group that Watt-Cloutier led from 2002 to 2006, plus Nunavut MP Nancy Karetak-Lindell, and Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, also offered congratulations.

Watt-Cloutier was nominated for the Nobel Prize for putting an aboriginal face on the effects of climate change.

As president of ICC Canada, Watt-Cloutier represented Arctic indigenous peoples during the negotiations which resulted in the Stockholm Accord, which banned certain organic pollutants that cause cancer, infertility and brain damage.

In 2005, she spearheaded a petition to the Inter-American Commission that argued climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from the United States was a violation of Inuit human rights. That petition was dismissed, but it put Watt-Cloutier on the road to becoming a household name in environmentalist circles.

"I think my work got propelled way out there beyond what I would have expected," she said last week. "I try to be in the business of changing public opinion into public policy."

A Nobel win would have instantly made Watt-Cloutier a hot ticket on the lecture circuit and transformed her life into a whirlwind of flights, hotels and speaking engagements. As it is, Watt-Cloutier said she already receives speaking invitations every day.

And she said she wants to set aside some time to write a book.