On Tuesday, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and dozens of activists from the Sami population group blocked even more ministries in the Norwegian capital Oslo to protest against two wind farms still operating despite a court ruling.
The wind turbines are located in the area where the Sami live and operate their cultural reindeer husbandry.
The Sami live in an area that spans northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia’s Kola Peninsula. They are the original inhabitants of the area. The militants in Oslo are pushing to demolish the two wind farms in Fosen, a region in western Norway. After a ruling by the Norwegian Supreme Court, those parks are illegal.
In October 2021, the 11 judges of Norway’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the expropriation and operating permits granted for constructing the 151 turbines were invalid, as they interfered with the cultural reindeer husbandry of the Sami families. However, the Court did not rule on the future of the turbines.
Five hundred days after the verdict, the Sami, assisted by climate activists, went to the ministry. Greta Thunberg supported the protesters since Sunday, who joined the blockade operations. “We must not use the so-called climate transition as a cover for colonization,” Thunberg told television channel TV2 on Sunday. “A climate transition that violates human rights is not worthy of the name climate transition.”
In the night from Sunday to Monday, they were forcibly evicted from the entrance hall, but they returned on Monday morning. They were back on Tuesday as well. “Today we are closing the State,” said Sami musician and militant Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen to the protesters, who were largely dressed in traditional blue-and-red costumes. The police cleared one of the entrances to the ministry early in the morning by forcing the activists outside.
The Norwegian authorities, who have been criticized for their perceived tardiness, have committed to respect the Supreme Court’s decision and have ordered additional expert reports in hopes of finding ways for the electricity producers and reindeer herders to coexist.
