Police carry Greta Thunberg away from wind farm protest

Protesters are demanding the withdrawal of 151 wind turbines from reindeer pastures used by indigenous Norwegian herders

Greta Thunberg is removed by police as activists protest outside the finance ministry in Oslo, Norway. Reuters

Greta Thunberg was removed twice during the demonstration for indigenous rights in Norway. Reuters

Ms Thunberg joined the protest calling for the removal of 151 wind turbines from reindeer pastures used by Sami herders on Monday. Reuters

Greta Thunberg is carried away in Oslo. Reuters

Protesters said a transition to green energy should not come at the expense of indigenous rights. AFP

Environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg was carried away by police during a demonstration for indigenous rights in Norway on Wednesday.

Police took her and other activists away from the finance ministry and later the environment ministry.

Norway’s energy minister has cancelled a trip to the UK because of the protest against a wind farm that protesters say hinders the right of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer in Norway.

Ms Thunberg first joined the protest calling for the removal of 151 wind turbines from reindeer pastures used by Sami herders in central Norway on Monday.

Protesters said a transition to green energy should not come at the expense of Indigenous rights.

Ms Thunberg, holding a red, blue, yellow and green Sami flag, was carried away by police officers from the finance ministry as hundreds of demonstrators chanted slogans.

“We want to make it very clear that it is the Norwegian state that is committing the real crime here, for violating human rights”, she said.

A Norwegian Sami protester poses in traditional clothes. AFP

Ms Thunberg later joined other demonstrators at the climate and environment ministry where they were again removed by police.

Activist Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that they were “escalating another couple of notches”.

“We have said we will shut down the state of Norway, department by department.”

Energy Minister Terje Aasland called off an official visit to Britain as the protests grew.

Activists began protesting outside the energy ministry last Thursday, and began blocking the entrances to other ministries on Tuesday.

Norway's supreme court ruled in 2021 that the turbines violated Sami rights. Reuters

Reindeer herders say the sight and sound of the giant wind power machinery frighten their animals and disrupt age-old traditions.

Norway's supreme court ruled in 2021 that the turbines violated Sami rights under international conventions, but they remain in operation more than 16 months later.

The energy ministry has said the turbines present a legal quandary despite the supreme court ruling, and is hoping to find a compromise.

The disputed turbines were built on two wind farms at Fosen, part of Europe's largest onshore wind power complex.