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OSLO, February 27 (Portal) – Environmental activist Greta Thunberg and dozens of other activists blocked the entrance to Norway’s Energy Ministry on Monday, protesting wind turbines being built on land traditionally used by indigenous Sami reindeer herders.
Thunberg, a vocal advocate of ending the world’s dependence on carbon-based energy, said the transition to green energy must not come at the expense of indigenous rights.
“Indigenous rights, human rights must go hand in hand with climate protection and climate protection. This must not happen at the expense of a few people. Then it’s not climate justice,” Thunberg told Portal while sitting in front of the ministry’s main entrance with other protesters.
Norway’s Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that two wind farms built in central Norway violated Sami rights under international conventions, but the turbines remain operational more than 16 months later.
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Reindeer herders in the Nordic country say the sight and sound of the giant wind turbines frighten their animals and disrupt age-old traditions.
“We are here to demand that the turbines be demolished and that legal rights be respected,” said Sami singer-songwriter, actress and activist Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen.
She and a dozen other Sami protesters had occupied the ministry’s reception area since Thursday. Police forcibly removed them around 01:30 GMT on Monday and arrested them before releasing them.
They returned to the Ministry around 0600 GMT, this time outside.
The Sami protesters wore their traditional costume, often called gakti, inside out as a sign of protest.
[1/5] Greta Thunberg attends a demonstration with activists from Nature and Youth and Norway’s Samirs Riksforbund Nuorat blocking entrances to the Ministry of Oil and Energy February 27, 2023 in Oslo, Norway. The reason for the action is the wind turbines in Fosen, which the Supreme Court has declared illegal, have not been demolished. NTB/Ole Berg-Rusten via Portal
The ministry said the ultimate fate of the wind farms was a complex legal dilemma despite the Supreme Court ruling and hoped to find a compromise.
The court’s ruling didn’t say what should happen next to the 151 turbines, which can power about 100,000 Norwegian homes, or what should happen to the dozens of kilometers (miles) of roads built to facilitate construction.
“We understand that this case is a burden for reindeer herders,” Minister for Energy and Petroleum Terje Aasland said in a statement to Portal.
“The Ministry will do everything possible to help solve this case and it will not take longer than necessary,” he added.
The owners of the Roan Vind and Fosen Vind farms include the German Stadtwerke München, the Norwegian utilities Statkraft and TroenderEnergi, and the Swiss companies Energy Infrastructure Partners and BKW.
“We trust the ministry to find good solutions that will allow us to continue producing renewable energy while preserving the rights of reindeer owners,” Roan Vind said in a statement.
Energy supplier BKW said it expects the wind turbines to remain in place, with compensatory measures to ensure the Sami reindeer herders’ rights are protected.
Stadtwerke München declined to comment.
Statkraft and Energy Infrastructure Partners were not immediately available for comment.
Additional reporting by Nora Buli; writing by Terje Solsvik; Edited by Robert Birsel and Frank Jack Daniel
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Gwladys Fouche