Photo essay reported and captured by Kasia Strek, written by me. Originally published on Bloomberg.com on June 26, 2023 as “Europe’s Green Revolution Threatens Indigenous Culture.”

The Sámi indigenous people have inhabited northern Sweden for thousands of years. Now their way of life is threatened by giant wind farms, mines rich in rare battery minerals and logging.

The European green revolution designed to slow down climate change globally is threatening the way of life of the Sámi people, one of the continent’s last-remaining indigenous groups. The breakneck pace to decarbonize is having damaging consequences for the forests and land they have inhabited for thousands of years.
It’s not the first time progress and industrial development in Sweden come at the expense of the Sámi. The group comprises roughly 80,000 people spread out across northern Scandinavia and is commonly associated with a semi-nomadic lifestyle of reindeer herding, even though only a minority of Sámis live like this today. In the past, they have been persecuted and oppressed by some Swedish and Norwegian institutions.

Sweden never had any colonies, but instead it colonized its north, a Swedish saying goes. The abundant minerals, wood and water that helped the country become one of the world’s wealthiest during the 20th century are found mostly in the wild and sparsely populated region that’s also the Sámi’s traditional territory.

Read the rest of the article here.

Cover photo by Kasia Strek.