Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg took part in an action by Sami activists in Oslo on Thursday against wind turbines that were declared illegal in Norway two years ago but are still in operation.
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“It is a shame (…) that systematic colonization, human rights violations and oppression are still a reality for the Sami today,” said Greta Thunberg.
“Norway is embarrassing itself on the international stage,” she said as she took part in the blockade of the headquarters of Norwegian public energy company Statkraft.
AFP
On October 11, 2021, the Supreme Court of Norway concluded that two wind farms built on the Fosen peninsula in the west of the country on land used by the Sami population for reindeer herding violated these indigenous rights guaranteed by the United Nations hurt the population.
Two years later, the 151 turbines are still in operation.
To mark this anniversary, dozens of environmental and Sami activists held strong actions in the Norwegian capital on Wednesday to demand the dismantling of wind turbines.
AFP
On Thursday, Greta Thunberg joined them to block the entry of Statkraft, which operates 80 of the 151 Fosen turbines through a subsidiary.
“It is important to show solidarity when human rights violations occur, especially in Scandinavia against the Sámi people,” she told AFP on Wednesday outside the court in Malmö where she had just been sentenced. “A fine for another lockdown in this context.” southern Swedish city.
On Thursday morning, the Swedish activist sat alongside activists in traditional costumes on the ground at the foot of a lavvo (Sámi tent) set up in front of a Statkraft entrance.
She had already joined the protest movement at the end of February, which takes place on every symbolic date.
“Greta Thunberg is an important ally in supporting our cause,” said Sámi artist and activist Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen.
If the Supreme Court had declared the permits issued invalid, its judgment would not decide on the fate of the turbines.
The Norwegian government has apologized to the affected Sami pastoralist families and acknowledged a violation of their human rights. He initiated mediation to try to reconcile livestock farming and wind turbines.
On Wednesday, the Minister of Oil and Energy, Terje Aasland, reiterated that “the dismantling of all wind turbines in Fosen, as now demanded by the demonstrators, is neither possible” nor “probable”.
According to Statkraft general manager Christian Rynning-Tønnesen in an interview with broadcaster TV2, examples elsewhere show that coexistence between turbines and flocks is “possible”, contrary to what some breeders claim.
This act is all the more important because it could set a precedent for other infrastructure or projects planned in the vast areas traditionally used by the Sami.
The Sami community is considered the last indigenous population in Europe and has around 100,000 members spread across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. For a long time they lived mainly from fishing and semi-nomadic reindeer herding.