(Photo : Photo by JAVAD PARSA/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
In a Norway rally, the young environmental activist stressed that Indigenous rights must be protected during the renewable energy transition.

Greta Thunberg, an environmental activist, was arrested twice in Norway in a rally for the rights of Indigenous peoples. According to ABC, Thunberg participated in a demonstration on Monday calling for the removal of 151 wind turbines from reindeer fields used by Sami herders in central Norway.

Greta Thunberg and fellow demonstrators blockaded the entrance to several government facilities, placing the center-left minority administration in trouble and causing Energy Minister Terje Aasland to cancel his official visit to Britain. In 2021, Norway's highest court found two wind farms in Fosen to violate Sami rights per international agreements; however, the turbines have remained in operation for almost 16 months, according to Reuters.

Several reindeer herders have complained that the massive wind turbines both visually and audibly scare their animals and put a damper on centuries-old customs. Greta Thunberg stressed that protecting Indigenous peoples' rights must be a priority throughout the shift to renewable energy.

Notwithstanding the Supreme Court's verdict, Norway's Energy Ministry has said that the wind turbines offer a legal dilemma and that they are trying to find a solution but that a new judgment in the Fosen case might take up to a year, per the New York Post.

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Protesters Pay Fine to Free Greta Thunberg, Other Activists

On Tuesday, activists said they had collected over $100,000 to assist individual protesters in paying police penalties. Following Greta Thunberg's arrest, the Swedish activist was freed with other previously held demonstrators. The activist is widely regarded as a worldwide leader in reducing the world's dependency on carbon-based energy.

The president of Norway's Sami parliament, an elected consultative group, told Reuters that she would meet with the energy minister on Thursday and demand an apology before negotiating a remedy.

Greta Thunberg was arrested during a western German demonstration in January, per a previous HNGN report. Thunberg was among the protesters trying to stop the coal mine development from destroying the abandoned town of Lützerath.

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