Can Arctic Sámi Parliaments Defend Their Way of Life from Green Developments | Foreign Correspondent

foreign [Music] thousands of years the unforgiving Arctic landscape has been home to the indigenous Sami people we are walking in the footsteps of our ancestors after centuries of forced assimilation and discrimination the Scandinavian Sami fought for a voice to represent them to government one of the strongest weapon in this struggle is this Army Parliament but it's now facing its biggest challenge yet be honest about the fact that we need to produce more renewable electricity everyone is moving into electric vehicles and unless these sorts of projects are approved it's not going to happen it's not going to be able to transition many Sami fear the green transition is putting their ancestral lands at risk you could kind of call it green colonization and it's because those climate measures you're taking on behalf of the world population unfortunately our future is ruined by those measures here in Scandinavia this Army have had parliaments to represent their interests to government for decades now as Australia prepares to vote for its own indigenous voice to Parliament I've come to see how they work what does it mean for this Army to have a voice is it loud enough to be heard over the demands for development and are governments really listening [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah on a crisp Arctic morning an awe-inspiring event is underway [Applause] reindeer roll a chance for the herders to check their animals before the winter migration [Music] Lauren at the ark foreign [Laughter] and her children are hiking up to the annual event and I've been invited to join them foreign foreign [Music] was forged by Karen's ancestors hundreds of years ago today she walks in their footsteps and her children in hers elf foreign ER after two hours we arrived to the bells and grunts of a thousand reindeer for the little children it's an important lesson in their history and maybe their future some reindeer are fitted with GPS trackers a modern addition to an ancient livelihood others just get a checkup a few are slaughtered but this one is lucky all he's losing are his antlers male reindeer usually drop their antlers naturally before winter but if they're castrated they need a little help I forgot good night for Generations Sami reindeer herders followed their animals with the seasons across vast ways of land living off their meat and skins but today only around 10 of Sami in Sweden are reindeer herders [Music] is the lesson [Music] this Army called their ancestral land sup me it stretches from Russia's Kohler Peninsula across the borders to Finland Sweden and Norway under Swedish law this Army have the right to use land and water for reindeer grazing but as Sweden moves to reduce its carbon emissions a wave of green development is sweeping across the Arctic universe for centuries the Swedish State suppressed Sami language and culture but this Army fought to have their voice heard the Sami Parliament was formed in 1993. its head office is here in kiriner in the shadow of the world's biggest underground iron ore mine despite its name the parliament has no legislative power it's an elected representative body which advises the Swedish government on Sami issues but it's not truly independent from the state it's overseen by a government Ministry complicated some or understand Sami like Karen are frustrated over the limitations of the parliament until recently the government hasn't been obliged to consult it although that's set to change with a new law that requires consultation on matters of special significance I believe it will make a difference but it's not enough and it will be needed to improve that but I thought it was a good development when it was presented Stefan Mickelson is a member of this Army Parliament and its former president he says the key issue is Sweden's refusal to ratify a U.N convention that would compel the state to not only consult but to do so with the goal of achieving consent why do you think Sweden hasn't ratified ILO 169 because I don't think Indians peoples have the same human rights as other as other peoples you think that's still the case in Sweden yes that is still the case in Sweden and they talk about the Sami people but they never talk with the Soviet people he says the current wave of green development on Sami lands is like nothing he's ever seen it's a huge huge threat these decisions that comes from Swedish Parliament and Swedish government never says after this it's enough they can take anything they want at any time they want [Music] one of the proposals being fought by the Sami Parliament and Karan Sami Village is here in vitangi the surrounding forests are critical to rain degrazing and a key migration area but they're also home to Europe's biggest untapped deposit of graphite an essential material needed for electric vehicle batteries today Karen is visiting the proposed mine site as part of a land and environment called hearing this is foreign [Music] balloons float above the tree line marking out the plan's sight [Music] the company proposing the mine is australian-based talga group Chief Operating Officer Martin Phillips is Keen to stress the billion dollar Project's value to the green transition this is the highest grade of graphite it's an important part of the the battery supply chain for Europe while it waits for the Court's approval the company has started test Drilling we operate in a way where we have been doing our exploration work in the summer then leaving and ensuring that the reindeer can come in the winter so our relationship actually at the local level has been I think very good in order to communicate and engage foreign if you're not given that informed consent from the Sami Villages here will you still proceed with with digging we'll still proceed with digging if if the Court gives us that permission too we're following due process and we're following all of the laws and the legislation that Sweden has laid out for us [Music] the inspiration for this Army parliament in Sweden came from across the border this Army parliament in Norway is also fighting a wave of green development as the country strives to meet its ambitious climate targets it's shaping up to be the biggest battle since the parliament was formed more than 30 years ago [Music] the birth of this Army parliament in Norway had its Origins here on the Alta River an important place for wild salmon fishing and reindeer herding in the late 60s the Norwegian government produced a plan to Dam the river and build a massive hydroelectric power plant the original proposal would flood the nearby Sami Village of Matzi the Sami fought back foreign strikes it was protesting by people physically trying to hamper the construction workers they had formed a human blockade of some sort and it went on to the point where Norwegian government they did send 600 police officers to Alta it did go on for very many years actually almost 20 years it didn't evolve to become the largest Civil Disobedience case in Norway Celia Karina mwodka was a little girl at the time of the altar protests but she remembers the shock waves the movement created after 150 years of Norway norwegianization which was a spoke in politics to eradicate our culture and our language um it was it was hard I guess even to try to think um the thought on writing I think it was hard for people a scaled back version of the dam was eventually built in 1987 but the conflict would change the course of Celia Carina's life and Sami history you could say that they didn't win the battle but it became clear for the Norwegian government that they need political body where the Sami Community voice could be heard two years later the Sami parliament in Norway was formed today Celia Carina is the president we are a political elected body like any other political elected body we have our disagreements but when a decision is made in this Hall the Sami people have stated their opinion now Norway's Sami Parliament is facing a battle to protect these Waters we'll see a mountain surrounding this Fjord contain the country's biggest deposit of copper another critical material needed to help power a green future the plan is to release the tailings from the mining project into a fjord and it is the national salmon field also Toro Volson is a sees Army fisherman whose livelihood and culture depends on the Fjord they're connecting to the water is in your blood you have to go to the Sea you have to see the sea you have to feel the sea even it's cold you have to have it on you you have to wash your hands in it you have to wash your face in it so yes it's a special culture in the 1970s some of the infrastructure remains and is today being used as a quarry Toro remembers what happened to the fish the last time tailings were released into the Ripper fjord we couldn't eat a fish he was even like green inside a lot of copper inside it looks like a lot of copper inside I tried to taste it I can't remember the taste no we had to go to meatballs after that are you expecting that that will happen again with this new project yeah that production will be approximately 10 times higher the company plans to pump around 2 million tons of tailings per year into the bottom of the Fjord it says they'll be contained using new technology toroff is skeptical where will the tailings be dumped tailors will be just underneath us oh here yeah we'll be in the tailings oh it's the usual heavy metals poisoned heavy metals and chemicals which are boys this Army Parliament has been helping toroff and other localsami Fight The Proposal one of the strongest weapon in this struggle is this Army Parliament all the company needs now is a final building permit this Army Parliament was consulted about the mine yet in spite of its opposition the project was given the go-ahead you could kind of call it green color near listen and it's because those climate measures you're taking on behalf of their world population unfortunately our future is ruined by those measures local mayor Terry Wickstrom is also sees Army he supports the mine and thinks the Sami Parliament should stop opposing it the Norwegian government has given the nurses all the approvals and then find it quite hard to disarm in Parliament still is fighting against the project I don't think it's Democratic and I don't think it's it's right we can't have just reindeers or fishing fishing industry in in this area we have to have other Industries so you think Sami culture can coexist with Mining and development like this yeah what we are now experiencing in in our area for many years that to the worst for the culture if there's if they're um would be less people there um less and less people the cease Army fishermen like turolf Olson history makes it difficult to have faith in the Norwegian government yes the money talks the Money Talks the money wins if your fears come true what would happen to this Army fisherman here we disappear we disappear from here from this field we surrender we surrender it's not just say Sami fishermen who are worried about what will happen if the nusia copper mine goes ahead reindeer herders whose animals graze in the area are also concerned the family reindeer herd is a semi-nomadic so I'm heading off into the mountains to meet one who's already started his winter migration hopefully I can find him [Music] oh yeah [Music] the vast landscape of Norway's arctic tundra feels desolate and hostile to life but it sustains this Army and their reindeer winter temperatures can plummet to minus 40 degrees herders once used skis and sleds to migrate with their animals now it's mostly snowmobiles and ATVs today the all-terrain vehicle is living up to its name [Music] finally we find the man we've come to see reindeer herder Nils matissara foreign any of them Nils Mattison is heard have just arrived here from his summer grazing land where the nusia copper mine is planned they'll stay until the snow comes and the lakes freeze I don't know if I'm cut out for this ah there we go it says thank you he says the last time they mined the area his reindeer suffered what I'm trying to misunderstood so shed this is London Lambda you have to be resourceful to live in these mountains living sustainably off the land has allowed this Army to keep using it for centuries so we have to go because foreign [Music] district is considering legal action over the copper mine in the meantime is grateful this Army Parliament is continuing to Lobby the government and investors to try to stop it foreign unlike Sweden this Army parliament in Norway is independent from government and it receives double the funding Norway has also ratified the UN convention which enshrines a right for the Sami to be consulted we have achieved a lot of things because it is a possibility for us of course to organize a our own processes develop our own politics and also do our own decisions so this is a good thing [Music] Norway a country that built its wealth on oil and gas is racing to go green it's hard to walk down the streets of Oslo without seeing an electric car it's got the highest per catheter electric vehicle ownership in the world and everything from the ferries to the trams run of the country's renewable energy grid I've come to the ministry of energy to see how the state is balancing its green goals with its commitment to indigenous rights Andreas Biel and Erickson is the state Secretary of Norway's energy Ministry we have a goal of reducing our national emissions by 50 to 55 by 2030 and then going to Net Zero in 2050 and we need to be honest about the fact that we need to produce more renewable electricity we need to utilize the possibilities that we can but we need to do it in a way that respects indigenous rights the president of this Army Parliament calls it green colonialism is it green colonialism from from our point of view the important thing now is to work as close together as possible with the reindeer herders with assami people to be able to find the framework that can last over time that can be a good framework that also takes into account the the rights of the Sami people and that is our goal right now [Music] the green transition must be a just transition I I feel that it is really important that we Safeguard human rights and that is a just transition you can't choose solutions that for us it it gives us no hope for a future in Sweden Karen farford near wishes her Sami Parliament had a more powerful voice foreign honors his land through song temperatures on the tundra will soon plummet and the Arctic nights will get longer his greatest hope is that the Parliament that represents his voice to those in power will be heard we've had in our regard but I didn't know I do not believe me you're better beloved Son and he has some advice from the Arctic to Australia [Music] [Music] yo wash foreign [Music] [Music] foreign

Channel: ABC News In-depth

Views: 28,862

Keywords: abc news, australian news, abc news indepth, foreign correspondent, Sami, norway, sweden, finland, sami parliaments, indigenous people of scandinavia, scandinavian, indigenous people of europe, arctic peoples, arctic indigenous peoples, arctic sami, sapmi, reindeer, reindeer herders, reindeer herding, news, Sámi

Id: lMXIS5SlIv4

Length: 29min 33sec (1773 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 20 2022