Activist is not a word that Sara-Elvira Kuhmunen herself uses.
– My part of activism is to form alliances, share knowledge and be in the rooms where decisions are made. So I’m an activist in a way, she says.
She is committed to the climate issue and the so-called green transition. She sees the climate issue as the biggest crisis in the world right now, especially for the indigenous peoples who are hit hard.
– When nature is affected, we are also affected, she says.
Why she has chosen to get involved in these issues is because it concerns her personally.
“We need to act”
– It affects my family, my friends and the people I belong to, but also indigenous peoples around the world. So we need to act so that our issues are taken into account in the decision-making processes. Otherwise, we will be run over, she says.
Last year, she was present in Oslo when Sami youth together with climate activists demonstrated to show their dissatisfaction with the Norwegian government regarding the Fosen verdict.
– I think it is important to come here and show that we, from the Swedish side, support them in this, she told SVT Sápmi at the time.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the Norra Fosen group and the government had agreed on an agreement and that the battle was over.
“Know I had done it”
Several people then performed civil disobedience, but Kuhmunen sees it as the absolute last resort for her.
– Of course you don’t want to do it, but you feel you have to. I think, or I know that I would have done it if I had seen that it doesn’t work any other way, she says.
But Sara-Elvira’s struggle has only just begun and already at her young age she has managed a lot.
– I have found a way of working that works for me and the most important thing is to be where the decision makers sit, says Sara-Elvira Kuhmunen and continues:
– The decision-makers need our knowledge to be able to ensure that there will be a real transition that is both fair and truly green.