The Green Revolution Threatens Europe’s Sámi Indigenous Community

Europe’s last recognised Indigenous community, the Sámi people, face mounting threats to their traditional reindeer herding and cultural lifestyle across Sápmi, as the rapid expansion of wind power, mining, and the green transition encroach upon traditional lands.

Truth Commissions Across Scandinavia Meet Different State Responses

Norway apologized in 2024 for its historical forced assimilation policy following the findings of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. Sweden received similar recommendations in September 2026, when its Truth Commission for the Sami People presented its report on September 30 in Östersund. Finland published its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission report in December 2025.

Despite these official reckonings, legal protections vary starkly across national borders. Norway and Denmark have ratified the International Labour Organization’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). Neither Sweden nor Finland has signed this convention.

Green Energy Infrastructure Collides With Indigenous Land Rights

In Kautokeino, Norway, where 95 percent of the population is Sámi and one in every two inhabitants owns reindeer, municipal council leader Anders S. Buljo points out that wind power, mines, and holiday villages take up increasingly vast amounts of space. Projects tied to the green transition are frequently presented as positive developments, yet they often override Indigenous land use.

A prominent legal precedent occurred in 2021, when Norway’s Supreme Court ruled that wind turbines built at Fosen were illegal because they infringed on reindeer herders‘ rights to practice their culture. Despite the court ruling that the installation constituted a human rights violation, the wind turbines remain standing.

Further pressures mount as new industrial projects emerge. Recently, the approval of another mine near Kiruna will restrict the Gabna Sámi reindeer-herding community's ability to move herds freely through the area.

Lingering Political Uncertainty in Sweden

Whether Sweden’s newly presented Truth Commission report will lead to concrete action remains unconfirmed. The report follows the presentation of the Truth Commission for the Sami People in Sweden on September 30, 2026, while threats to Sámi livelihoods continue amid the green revolution.