Activists wearing traditional Sami costumes demonstrate inside the central hall of Storting, the Norwegian parliament, in Oslo, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. Dozen of activists, including Indigenous Sami, protested Wednesday saying they are fed up with Norway’s government about a wind farm they want removed in the Fosen district, about 450 kilometers north of Oslo, because they say it endangers the reindeer herders’ way of life.
At the center of the dispute are the 151 turbines of Europe’s largest onshore wind farm, which is located in central Norway’s Fosen district, about 450 kilometers north of Oslo. The activists say a transition to green energy shouldn’t come at the expense of the rights of Indigenous people.
”The trust of Sami in the state is at a breaking point,” activist Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen said Wednesday. “It is absurd, because the reindeer owners of Fosen won in court. The government simply does not respect the democracy.”Western countries want a UN team created to monitor rights violations and abuses in SudanA group of about 20 Sami, many dressed in traditional garments, entered the parliament building and started chanting in a central hallway.
In June, activists protested outside Gahr Støre’s office. They occupied the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for four days in