Truth and Reconciliation Commission Submits Final Report – Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi Gives Speech at Towards Reconciliation Event
The Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Finland submitted its final report to the Government of Finland, the Sámi Parliament, and the Skolt Saami Village Assembly on 4 December 2025.
Following the formal submission, a public event titled “Towards Reconciliation” took place at the National Museum of Finland. The programme featured a communal reading of the report and expert presentations, including a speech by Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi, MARCEN Senior Researcher and Chair of the Saami Climate Council.
In his speech, Näkkäläjärvi thanked the Commission for its work and pointed out that it is the only commission to have addressed climate change and its impacts on the Sámi and on the reconciliation process itself.
Näkkäläjärvi emphasised that climate change has already had a detrimental impact on the Sámi living environment and cultural landscape. It has also caused economic losses and introduced new threats, such as concerns about the survival of the Sámi language, culture, and traditional livelihoods.
He described climate change and adaptation as a cultural transformation process in which livelihoods, culture, language, knowledge, and skills must adapt to new circumstances. In the Sámi community, climate change is seen as a continuation of colonial history: the harms caused by industrialised countries to nature and Indigenous peoples now particularly affect Indigenous communities.
He also pointed out that, in addition to the negative impacts of climate change, recent legislative and administrative changes have further harmed the Sámi community. Näkkäläjärvi called for the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to initiate a process to re-evaluate the management of protected areas and Sámi participation in the governance of their traditional territories, following the example of Canada.
He hoped that the report and its implementation would help secure the future and vitality of Sámi culture in the midst of climate change. He stressed that both Finnish and Sámi societies must collaborate to implement the Commission’s measures. Näkkäläjärvi urged Finland to take swift action and demonstrate the courage to think and act in innovative ways.
The MARCEN project will continue to examine issues raised in the report. It will explore how developments in rights, mobilization, and transitional justice processes affect the ways settler states include or exclude the Sámi within the legal system, particularly in the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Read the full speech in Finnish or in North Saami on the website of the Sámi Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Watch Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi’s speech in Finnish on Yle Areena (the speech starts approximately at 48:50).