Norway’s Supreme Court ruled that two wind farms, built in 2020 in the west of the country, are damaging the Sami reindeer pastures. Eco-friendly power plants have come under threat of demolition as they get in the way of the normal farming of herders, transfers France24.
According to Sami lawyers, Fosen Vind has illegally installed about 150 turbines on the Vosen Peninsula, which harm the reindeer herders’ economy. Norway’s oil and energy ministry spokesman Ole Berthelsen added that “the Supreme Court’s verdict created a need to clarify the situation” as the ministry’s licenses to build and operate turbines to save the planet from a climate disaster were invalidated.
The judge’s main arguments were supported by the provisions of article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the provisions of which protect ethnic minorities, in particular, against invasion of their culture. Traditional Sami reindeer husbandry is a form of protected cultural practice.
“Of course, this is a surprise for us. We acted under the licenses provided by the authorities after detailed approval. Special attention was paid to reindeer husbandry, ”said the head of Fosen Vind, Tom Kristian Larsen, stressing that the company will wait for the ministry’s reaction to take further action.
In total, there are about 100 thousand representatives of the Sami people in the world who live in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia. Most of these people make their living by raising semi-domesticated deer for meat and hides.
Earlier it became known that the giant half-blind bustard threatened the implementation of large-scale reforms in India to switch to renewable energy sources. After the birds began to die more often from collisions with power lines near wind and solar plants, the country’s Supreme Court ordered energy companies to hide the cables underground.