The Norwegian wind farm, Øyfjellet, has recently seen a lawsuit filed by the Sámi herders of Nordland county, due to the apparent breaking of an agreement that stimulated its construction not interfere with reindeer migration paths.
According to The Guardian, Sámi communities have taken multiple legal actions against Norway’s largest onshore wind farm over the past five years, stating that the wind farms violate their territorial and cultural rights.
The Head of the Arctic and Environmental Unit at the Sámi Council, Gunn-Britt Retter, commented, “The Sámi people are not the ones who have contributed the most to climate change, but we seem to be the ones who have to carry its greatest burden.”
Over the past decade, the number of wind turbines in Norway has quadrupled, with many of these farms residing in the territories of the Sámi people in the north of the country.
It was stated that roughly 10% of the Sámi people in Norway remain involved in herding full-time, a practice that is protected under Norwegian law.