Europe's Green Future Built on Displaced Indigenous Land
Bloomberg's latest dispatch from Sweden's Kiruna details how thousands are being pushed out for expanded mining of rare earths, framed as a necessary sacrifice for Europe's 'green transition.' What they conveniently gloss over is this isn't just 'Europe's raw-material needs'; it's the latest chapter in centuries-old colonial resource extraction, disproportionately affecting Indigenous Sámi
communities. The 'need' for electric vehicles (EVs) and smart devices, funded by corporate giants and Western governments, translates directly into stolen land and shattered lives, all under the guise of environmental progress. One might wonder if the 'social license' for these operations is ever extended to the actual people who own the land, or if the 'progress' only measures financial returns
for corporate boards. The same rhetoric used to justify seizing land for gold a century ago now justifies it for neodymium, all while the West congratulates itself on its environmental stewardship. Perhaps the Sámi were simply told their homes were in the way of a 'necessary strategic asset,' a phrase we've heard before when Western powers needed something on someone else's turf. It seems the
color of the valuable rocks changes, but the playbook for acquiring them remains disturbingly consistent.