1. Summary
The escalating climate crisis raises complex questions at the intersection of law, policy and science. Climate change threatens the effective enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, including the rights to life, private and family life and home, health, and culture. The purpose of this report is to examine the human rights protection of the Sámi people in Norway from the effects of climate change, who in many ways are the “canaries in the coalmine” of the climate crisis.1This report is authored by the Norwegian NHRI (National Human Rights Institution), which is an independent public body established by Parliament to protect and promote the implementation of human rights in Norway. Providing advice to State authorities on their human rights obligations as well as monitoring emerging human rights challenges are important aspects of this work. This includes identifying any deficiencies in legislation, policies or practices that increase the risk of human rights violations. The main authors of the report are Peter Dawson, Hannah Brænden and Lars-Johan Strømgren, in close collaboration with Adele Matheson Mestad, Gro Nystuen, John Bernhard Henriksen, Anders Broderstad, Mina Haugen and Petter Eide. The report is designed by Magnus Eide. Thanks to everyone else who has contributed to the report.
The report is written in English given its relevance in an international context. It provides an overview of the factual and legal framework pertaining to Sámi rights and climate change in Norway. It is not intended to provide a comprehensive analysis of the issue, nor is it exhaustive of all relevant sources. We thank all the stakeholders and scientists we consulted for their valuable input and feedback.
Based on the findings in the report, Chapter 2 provides some recommendations to the Norwegian government and business. We hope the report will contribute to further discussion and dialogue on this important topic and to better realisation of human rights.
Chapter 4 of the report provides an overview of global efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C in accordance with the Paris Agreement. Already at 1.2°C of global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from the burning of fossil fuels, have caused widespread adverse impacts to nature and people, threatening the effective enjoyment of a whole range of human rights. These impacts are projected to worsen with every additional tonne of CO2 emissions and every incremental increase in warming.
Approximately 150 billion tonnes of additional CO2 emissions can be released into the atmosphere before the critical 1.5°C threshold is crossed. At the current rate of emissions, this will happen within 2 to 7 years. States’ existing policies to reduce emissions will still lead to a 3°C temperature rise by 2100. Only a rapid global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy can deliver the emission cuts needed to avoid climate disaster.
Chapter 5 of the report discusses Norway’s greenhouse gas emissions and climate policies. Norway emits approximately 50 million tonnes of CO2 from within its borders every year, with a quarter of these emissions coming from the production of oil and gas. Once exported and burned abroad, this oil and gas is responsible for a further 500 million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. Norway has reduced its domestic emissions by 4.6% since 1990 and has significantly increased fossil fuel production and export. Norway was central in the negotiations that led to the agreement at the 2023 climate conference in Dubai to “transition away from fossil fuels”. However, at the domestic level, Norway currently plans to increase fossil fuel production and export, while using a large proportion of available renewable energy to power offshore oil and gas platforms.
In Chapter 6, we summarise existing scientific research concerning current and future impacts of climate change which may be relevant for the Sámi people in Norway. Climate change is already causing significant negative effects in the Arctic, including higher temperatures and precipitation, permafrost thaw, loss of sea and land ice, changes in snow cover, extreme weather events and northward shifts of species. These changes are occurring at an unprecedented magnitude and pace because the Arctic warms much faster than the rest of the world.
In Finnmarksvidda for example, annual average temperatures have already increased by 1.9°C, autumn temperatures have increased by 2.9°C, rainfall has increased by 25% and snow cover duration has decreased by three weeks since 1971. Sea surface temperature in the Norwegian Sea increased by approximately 1.2°C between 1980 and 2020. These changes pose several human rights challenges for the Sámi people, threatening important cultural practices and livelihoods such as reindeer herding and fishing, with associated impacts on Sámi health.
If global warming exceeds 1.5°C, many of the changes that negatively impact Sámi reindeer husbandry, fishing and health are projected to worsen by the end of the century. Under the highest emissions scenario (RCP8.5) for example, the annual average temperature in Finnmarksvidda will increase by 6.7°C, precipitation will increase by 22% and snow cover duration will decrease by 2-3 months. There will be a significant increase in the frequency of rain-on-snow events and freeze-thaw cycles which create an ice barrier making it difficult for the reindeer to access food, and 20-40 more days where the temperature fluctuates above and below 0°C. Sea surface temperature is projected to increase, by a further 2.2°C in the coastal parts of the Barents Sea and a further 1.2°C in the coastal parts of the Norwegian Sea in March from 2015 to 2100.
The options for the Sámi people to adapt to such drastic changes are limited, particularly in relation to reindeer herding. For example, the increasing use of supplementary feeding during grazing crises can negatively affect reindeer health, and add a significant burden to Sámi reindeer herders through increased workload, costs, stress and concern for loss of traditional practices and culture. Land use policy may also restrict access to alternative pastures or emergency support during grazing crises.
Chapter 7 provides an overview of the relevant legal framework for the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The report mainly focuses on the protection of Indigenous people under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Articles 17 and 27. The chapter analyses positive and negative obligations to protect Sámi rights, as well as Indigenous Peoples’ right to effectively participate in relevant decision-making processes.
Chapter 8 discusses the State’s human rights obligation to protect the Sámi people from the impacts of climate change. While climate change threatens the effective enjoyment of a whole range of human rights for all, Indigenous Peoples’ rights may be disproportionately impacted by climate change under ICCPR Articles 17 and 27. We analyse environmental and climate decisions from the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) to establish existing human rights law in this field, and conclude that the Norwegian authorities have a positive obligation to protect the Sámi people from the real, serious, and reasonably foreseeable threat that climate change poses to their culture and livelihoods.
Furthermore, we discuss what the authorities must do to comply with this positive obligation. Firstly, we analyse a potential obligation for States to reduce their GHG emissions through mitigation measures to protect the Sámi. While the HRC has neither rejected nor affirmed such a duty, the best available climate science suggests that it will likely not be possible to effectively protect the Sámi people’s rights under ICCPR Articles 17 and 27 in the long term if States do not reduce the GHG emissions within their effective control in line with the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C. While reduced emissions from one State alone will not determine the future course of climate change, several national courts have concluded that every State must do its part to combat climate change and protect human rights by reducing its own emissions. The chapter also analyses the authorities’ obligation to protect Sámi culture by adapting to existing or unpreventable impacts of climate change. State authorities must adopt and implement timely and adequate adaptation measures to protect Sami culture, the choice of which should be informed by traditional Indigenous knowledge. However, mitigation and adaptation measures themselves must not be detrimental to Sámi cultural practices or livelihoods.
Chapter 9 underlines the State’s human rights obligation to protect traditional Sámi areas from interferences with substantive negative impact under ICCPR Article 27. The Fosen case from the Norwegian Supreme Court Plenary serves as an important precedent for this legal analysis. The Chapter also addresses the statement from the Supreme Court that if Article 27 conflicts with other fundamental rights, such as the right to a healthy environment, the two rights may be “balanced against each other and harmonised”. However, this harmonization must ultimately be done on a case-by-case basis if a conflict arises. To avoid this situation in the first place, we present some recommendations on how to avoid conflicts between the right to a healthy environment and Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
Lastly, Chapter 10 briefly discuss the responsibility of businesses to respect Sámi rights in the context of climate change. For larger Norwegian companies, an obligation to identify and assess actual and potential adverse impacts on fundamental human rights follows from the Norwegian Transparency Act. This includes ICCPR Articles 17 and 27 and environmental impacts with a negative impact on human rights. With the upcoming adoption and entry into force of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, similar and further obligations will be applicable for larger companies in the EU.