3. Introduction

Climate change threatens the effective enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, including the rights to life, private life and home, property, health, and culture.⁴ Already at the current level of warming, climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events and slow-onset impacts, with devastating consequences for nature and people. In addition, the Arctic warms at a faster rate than the global average, which affects all people living in Arctic areas, especially the Sámi people whose cultures and livelihoods depend on climate-sensitive ecosystems.

Although climate change affects all regions and populations in different ways, certain vulnerable groups are disproportionately impacted, including women, children, older people, people with disabilities and Indigenous Peoples.⁵ In this report, we focus primarily on how climate change affects the rights of the Sámi people in Norway, who in many ways are the “canaries in the coalmine” of the climate crisis.⁶

There are four main reasons why Indigenous Peoples, including the Sámi people, are disproportionately affected by climate change:

Indigenous Peoples have a deep connection to their traditional lands, waters and resources, which are crucial for the continued survival of their cultures, languages, livelihoods and knowledges.⁷
Indigenous Peoples often experience discrimination and marginalisation, at the personal and structural and institutional levels. This is exacerbated by climate change and affects Indigenous Peoples’ ability to adapt to climate change.⁸
Indigenous Peoples’ traditional lands, waters and resources have historically been, and remain vulnerable to commercial and industrial developments. Climate change further exacerbates this vulnerability by increasing the demand for land, including for renewable energy developments, mining of critical minerals, carbon sequestration and adaptation measures.⁹
On a global level, indigenous Peoples manage or have tenure rights over at least 40% of the Earth’s remaining ecologically intact landscapes, and their traditional territories are estimated to represent 80% of the Earth’s biodiversity.¹⁰ These areas often include climate-sensitive ecosystems that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Rapid and drastic changes in the Arctic climate are having increasingly negative effects on Sámi cultures, health and livelihoods, including reindeer herding and fishing practices. Climate change is exacerbating an already challenging situation for the Sámi people, adding to the cumulative negative impacts of historical assimilation policies and industrial developments in Sámi areas.¹¹ The ongoing climate crisis adds to various forms of government and corporate land interventions, with the negative consequences this has for reindeer husbandry.¹² The negative effects of climate change for the Sámi people are projected to worsen if warming exceeds the critical 1.5°C threshold in the Paris Agreement.

The factual section of the report focuses mostly on the impacts of climate change that are relevant to Sámi reindeer husbandry, fishing and health, although other aspects of Sámi culture and industries may also be relevant. The legal section of the report focuses mostly on States’ obligation to effectively protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights under Articles 17 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

This report is authored by the Norwegian National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), which is an independent public body established by Parliament to protect and promote the implementation of human rights in Norway. ¹³ 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.

With a view to assuring the quality of this report, the Norwegian NHRI has asked for feedback from relevant experts from a range of institutions and organisations, such as the Sámi Parliament, the Saami Council, the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry, the Arctic Monitoring & Assessment Programme (AMAP), the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, the Institute of Marine Research, the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, UiT The Arctic University of Norway and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, among others. We thank all stakeholders for their valuable input and feedback. An earlier version of the report was also used as the basis for input at a side event at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues 22^nd Session in April 2023.

The escalating climate crisis raises complex questions at the intersection of law, policy and science. The purpose of this report is not to answer all these questions, but to provide a human rights perspective on the impacts of climate change for the Sámi people. We hope the report will contribute to further dialogue on this important topic and to better realisation of human rights.

Fotnoter:

¹Norwegian National Human Rights Institution (NIM). Climate and Human Rights. (2021). Available at: https://www.nhri.no/en/report/climate-and-human-rights/; European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI). Climate Change and Human Rights in the European Context. (2021). Available at: https://ennhri.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ENNHRI-Paper-Climate-Change-and-Human-Rights-in-the-European-Context_06.05.2020.pdf.
²Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). AR6 WGII Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Summary for Policymakers (2022) para. B.1; Nicholas Tyler et al., “The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change” Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems Vol. 4 (2021); Islam, S.N & Winkel, J. “Climate Change and Social Inequality”. UN Department of Economic & Social Affairs (UNDESA). Working Paper No. 152; Jerez, M.M., Challenges and Opportunities for Indigenous' Peoples' Sustainability (UNDESA, Policy Brief no. 101, 2021).
³The expression “canary in the coal mine” refers to an early warning of danger or harm. In the past, canaries were used by coal miners to detect carbon monoxide because they were more sensitive than humans to dangerous gases and would therefore react earlier.
⁴IPCC. Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Summary for Policymakers para. B.2.1; UN Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2017, UN Doc. A/HRC,36/46, p. 4; UNDESA, 2021, p. 1; Tyler et.al., “The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate Change”.
⁵IPCC. Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Summary for Policymakers paras. B.2.1, B.2.4; OHCHR, 2017, p. 4; Johnsen, K.I et al., “Leaving no one behind – sustainable development of Sámi reindeer husbandry in Norway” In Reindeer Husbandry: Adaptation and Resilience to a Changing Arctic, Svein D. Mathiesen et al. (eds.) (Springer Polar Sciences, 2022).
⁶See for example, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), Report on the twenty-first session, 25 April–6 May 2022, para. 5; Norwegian National Human Rights Institution (NIM). Human Rights Protection against Interference in Traditional Sámi Areas, 2022. Available at: https://www.nhri.no/en/report/human-rights-protection-against-interference-in-traditional-Sámi-areas/.
⁷Stephen Garnett et al., “A spatial overview of the global importance of Indigenous lands for conservation” Nature Sustainability 1 (2018); OHCHR, 2017, p. 3.
⁸Jouni Jaakkola et al., “The Holistic Effects of Climate Change on the Culture, Well Being, and Health of the Saami” Current Environmental Health Reports 5, nr. 4 (2018) p. 413; Norwegian National Human Rights Institution (NIM). Human Rights Protection against Interference in Traditional Sámi Areas; UNDESA, 2021, p. 3
⁹The Truth and Reconciliation Commission report Sannhet og forsoning, Dok 19 (2022-2023) p. 554.
¹⁰The Norwegian NHRI Act §§ 1,3.