Norway wind farms protested as disruptive for Indigenous

When Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg and other activists protested at several Norwegian government ministries this week, they weren’t demonstrating against new petroleum refineries or tax incentives for Big Oil. Instead, they were fighting wind farms, often seen as a tool in fighting climate change.

But the two wind farms at stake are built on land in central Norway that is traditionally used by the Sami people to herd reindeer, a prized animal that has long provided them with food, clothing and labor. While the turbines bolster Norway’s green ambitions by powering thousands of homes, they do so at a cost activists say is too high: by disrupting daily life of the Sami people and frightening the animals they rely on for their livelihood.

On Tuesday, the Norwegian Sami Association, whose activists began occupying parts of Norway’s energy ministry last week, posted a video calling for the wind turbines to be demolished. “We demand that Norway stops putting profit over Indigenous rights,” the group said.

Norway’s top court ruled in 2021 that the wind farms violated Sami herders’ cultural rights, but the infrastructure, part of a $1 billion-plus project, remains in operation. The energy ministry has said that the legal situation around the turbines is complex, Reuters reported. One mayor in central Norway told the NRK public broadcaster that the wind farms would provide jobs and renewable energy, and that he hoped an agreement could be reached.

The Sami people number between 50,000 and 100,000, according to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, with as many as 65,000 of them located in Norway. The United Nations has documented how Nordic countries have long suppressed their language and customs, though more recent Norwegian governments have moved to protect their culture, experts say.

As countries race to reduce carbon emissions, the struggle over the wind turbines highlights the difficulties faced by those whose land, resources and cultural life are implicated in climate solutions. The Sami’s predicament is echoed by villagers in southern Thailand who watched as a new biomass plant interrupted their water supply, according to reports. Activists in Mexico who cited abuse of Native rights also managed to stop what would have been one of Latin America’s largest wind farms from being built on the Indigenous land in Oaxaca.

Indigenous rights must “go hand-in-hand” with climate action, Thunberg told Reuters in Norway. Action “can’t happen at the expense of some people. Then it is not climate justice.”

The number of rights abuse allegations related to renewable energy projects has increased in recent years, according to a 2022 report by the U.K.-based Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, which said the most serious and frequent charges were linked to not respecting Indigenous land rights.

The Norwegian wind farms consist of 151 turbines, which became operational in 2019 and 2020. The independent Climate Action Tracker rates Norway’s climate efforts as “almost sufficient,” adding that Oslo’s policies are “not yet consistent” with what is needed to cap the Earth’s warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels. Wind power, which generated about 8.5% of the country’s electricity in 2020, is seen as a key asset.

The Norwegian energy ministry said last week that free speech is a fundamental right and that its security personnel was assessing the actions of the protesters. Police then forcibly removed protesters early Monday morning, according to an Instagram post shared by Thunberg. The protesters returned in front of the government building a few hours later. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment early Wednesday.