Stockholm (EFE).- The Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and other ecologists blocked access to the Ministry of Oil and Energy in Oslo on Monday in protest at the presence of wind generators on the Fosen peninsula, inhabited by Sami indigenous people.
Under the slogan “Indigenous rights are not optional, windmills must be demolished now”, the activists called for the application of a Norwegian Supreme Court ruling that in October 2021 ruled that the construction of two wind farms did not have a valid license .
“The fight for the rights of indigenous peoples, for human rights, for the climate, is global. There are several local examples of rights violations and when it happens it is something that needs to be acted on,” Thunberg told the Norwegian news agency NTB.
In statements collected by other Norwegian media, he accused the Norwegian government of being “ignoring” the issue.
Controversy over the use of land where the Sami graze
Several activists began their protest in front of the ministry on the night from Sunday to Monday and some were removed by the police, but today several hundred returned to congregate in front of the building.
The Minister of Energy, Terje Aasland, stated this morning that despite the fact that the Supreme Court has established unequivocally that the permits to build the Fosen park did not have a valid license, the court did not rule on what measures should be taken accordingly.
“We must obtain new information on the situation of the reindeer herding industry and seek mitigating measures and then make new decisions in line with the premises of the Supreme Court ruling,” he told the Norwegian channel NRK.
The two wind farms of Storheia and Roan, with a total of 151 generators, are built on grazing lands of transhumant reindeer herds of the Sami.
