Norway: Wind power threatens South Sámi Peoples' reindeer herding

One of Europe’s largest onshore wind projects is situated in central Norway, on the Fosen peninsula. For over 15 years, Indigenous Saami reindeer herders have been campaigning against the wind turbines in the areas Storheia and Roan, which are destroying parts of their reindeer’s grazing land. Semi-nomadic reindeer herding is a fundamental aspect of Saami culture, through which Indigenous knowledge and language are passed on to the next generations. The pastures in these areas were particularly valuable. Storheia alone accounted for over 40% of the total winter grazing land. The wind farms have rendered the areas of Storheia (in the south) and Roan (in the north) unusable for reindeer herding: The reindeer are scared off by the turbines’ noise and shadows – and kilometres of roads cut through their migration routes. The wind farms on the Fosen peninsula threaten the local South Saami people’s reindeer herding, and thus their cultural survival. The STP has supported the affected communities in their calls for restoration and rewilding of the region. In 2013, reindeer herders lodged an objection to the project being situated on Indigenous land with the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The ministry disallowed the objection, so the case went to Norway’s Supreme Court. In a sensational judgement in 2021, the court ruled in favour of the Saami people. It declared the total of 151 wind turbines in Storheia, which were built on Indigenous land, to be illegal. It upheld the affected South Saami people’s contention that the wind farm violated their right to culture as contained in article 27 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The judgement creates a precedent in Norway and thereby impacts upon other wind farms and natural resource projects in reindeer grazing areas.

However, although the Norwegian Supreme Court decision backs up the South Saami position, Europe’s biggest wind project continues to operate. Five hundred days after the judgement, climate activists and Saami protesters occupied the square in front of the office of Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The activists – Greta Thunberg visited the protest – insisted that the transition to “greener” energy should not be implemented at the expense of Indigenous rights. One of the slogans was “Respect existence or expect resistance”. The Norwegian government has since apologised and promised to accelerate the search for solutions to implement the judgement, with the reindeer herders actively involved in this process. Nevertheless, the Saami activists were fined for their protest actions and, as they refused to pay the fines, had to face a trial in March 2024. In a high-profile judgement, the activists were acquitted.

Lengthy mediation process

For implementation of the Supreme Court’s ruling, a mediation process was convened between the reindeer herders, the operating companies and the Norwegian state. An agreement was reached in December 2023 for the southern group affected by the Storheia project and in March 2024 for the northern group affected by the Roan project. According to the agreement, the Saami families will receive compensation payments, as well as pastures to replace the lost winter grazing land. They have also obtained a right of veto, should Fosen Vind apply for an extension after its licence expires in 2045.

During the mediation process, the two Saami communities were under great pressure, because failure to reach an agreement would probably have resulted in further lengthy and costly legal proceedings. Members of the northern group described the pressure as so intense that they felt as if they were sitting at the negotiating table “confronted with a gun in the face”.

The settlements reached by the two groups with the operating company and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy put an end to the proceedings. The human rights violation acknowledged by the Norwegian Supreme Court will be officially considered rectified as soon as the reindeer herders have received the new grazing areas.

In the STP’s view, the proceedings cast a bad light on the Norwegian government and the operating companies. The Norwegian Supreme Court had already found that the Saami groups’ human rights had been violated back in October 2021, but instead of immediate measures to restore the rights of the Saami and provide compensation, a lengthy mediation process ensued. Sissel Holtan, a member of the northern group, believes that the mediation process was not conducted on a level playing field. She also states that the process was not open to all outcomes: “It was clear from the start that our demand, namely the dismantling of the turbines, was not an option.” The STP supported the two Saami groups in their demand that the turbines in Storheia and Roan, which had been declared illegal, must be dismantled. It called on the wind farms’ two Swiss financial backers to strive for implementation of the court ruling, restoration of the Saami’s rights and corresponding compensation.

Swiss financial backers also bear responsibility

Since 2018, in the ‘Turbines Need Saami Consent’ campaign, the STP and representatives of the South Saami have been jointly demanding that the investor consortium Nordic Wind Power DA stop the project, withdraw their investments, and guarantee the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) for Indigenous communities. Swiss companies are also significantly involved in the Nordic Wind Power DA consortium. The wind farms on the Fosen peninsula were built by Fosen Vind DA, whose owners are Norwegian state energy group Statkraft and Nordic Wind Power DA, which holds a 40% stake. Nordic Wind Power DA is a consortium of European investors, originally established by Credit Suisse Energy Infrastructure Partners AG, which has a 40% holding in Fosen Vind. In 2020, Credit Suisse sold its shares to Swiss investment firm Energy Infrastructure Partners (EIP), based in Zurich. BKW Energie AG, with its registered office in Bern, is also part of the consortium, through which it has an indirect 11.2% holding in the project. With this in mind, in December 2018, the STP organised a visit to Switzerland for a South Saami delegation, so that two people affected by the project could discuss the matter personally in talks with the investors BKW and Credit Suisse. Later, the STP filed a complaint against BKW with the National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Demands for the future: In the summer of 2021, the STP achieved a major success: As a result of the mediation procedure with the STP, BKW embedded the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in its internal guidelines. There is a need for improved due diligence of this kind to make human rights violations completely impossible in the future. If necessary, BKW will in future be able to use escape clauses to withdraw from the business relationship. In addition, it will embed low-threshold complaint mechanisms at project level.

In practice though, it is unfortunately evident that BKW continues to ascribe more importance to profits than to its own guidelines and the protection of Indigenous communities. After the occupation of the square in front of the Norwegian prime minister’s office in 2023, the group stated that “the judgement does not immediately affect the operation of the wind farms” – an attitude that the STP criticised sharply.

The STP is demanding the following:

• For future projects, the companies involved must carry out an independent environmental and social impact assessment, and publish its results.
• In all future investment projects, every stakeholder must commit to the United Nations’ principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), and ensure that the rights of the Saami people are taken into account and that their voice is heard. This also applies to renewable energy projects.
• The land rights of the Saami must be recognised in future projects. This means that any agreement on land-use rights must include appropriate compensation, for example through profit sharing.