Mineral extraction in Swedish Sápmi: The regulatory gap between Sami rights and Sweden’s mining permitting practices

Abstract

In Sweden, extractive industries are placing increasing pressure on the traditional indigenous Sami livelihood of reindeer herding. Consequently, the intersection of indigenous rights and mining-related development in Sweden has become an increasingly contested socio-legal space. In this article, we analyse the extent to which there are meaningful opportunities for Sami reindeer herding communities in Sweden to effectively influence the permit procedures concerning proposed mines, in order to protect their rights and interests. We provide a comprehensive socio-legal analysis that highlights the weak level of recognition of Sami rights and related impact assessments within the mining permitting system in Sweden. We demonstrate the weakness is caused by several factors: an a priori assumption by Swedish authorities that reindeer herding and mining can generally co-exist; the lack of a codified Swedish State duty to consult the Sami; the narrow scope and the weak status of cumulative impact assessments in Swedish EIA legislation and practice; and the weak recognition of Sami reindeer herding as a “property right” during the permit review process under the balancing of competing land-uses. Our results highlight the urgent need for legislative reform in Sweden, if the State is to fulfil its international obligations and improve its legal consistency concerning the rights of the Sami as an indigenous people.