Sámi perspectives on energy justice and wind energy developments in Northern Norway

Abstract

This article uses a relational ontology lens to analyze how Sámi reindeer herders in Northern Norway experience wind energy developments and energy justice. While most research on just energy transitions tends to focus on distribution, procedural and recognition justice, decolonial environmental justice scholars have argued that this approach fails to fully capture how energy (in)justice is perceived by Indigenous peoples. Our study builds on these insights and explores how Sámi relational ontologies shape their perceptions of energy justice. Building on ethnographic fieldwork - including participant observation and interviews conducted in Guovdageaidnu - we seek to answer the question: How does relational ontology shape Sámi reindeer herders' perceptions of justice in the transition towards renewable energy? We conclude that for Sámi reindeer herders, a just energy transition not only depends on distributional, procedural and recognition justice, but that their perceptions of what is “just” in energy transitions also revolve around: 1) other-than-humans 2) multiple ways of being in the world 3) diverse ways of knowing 4) temporality and 5) historical processes of dispossession. By unravelling why Sámi perceive wind developments as unjust, this article shows how the transition towards renewable energy can deepen already existing injustices and that embracing alternative ontologies could pave the way for an energy transition that is also considered just by Indigenous peoples. In so doing, the article contributes to the emerging literature that analyses energy justice through an ontological lens.