Green transition towards more sustainable practices is indispensable to reduce carbon emissions and maintain the planet within liveable conditions, but is this transition just?

Climate inequality is quite apparent with those contributing to climate change the least suffering most of its consequences. Now, the urgency of a green transition is putting even more pressure on those who are already at risk from the climate crisis or already marginalised, exacerbating and bringing existing tensions to the surface in contexts where colonial past and present haven’t been addressed. This is sometimes called “green colonialism”.

SEI’s Annette Löf, Laura Del Duca, and Vice President of the Saami Council Åsa Larsson Blind explore what green colonialism means and what climate justice and just transition would look like for the Indigenous Saami peoples in Northern Europe.