Gunn Britt Retter

Gunn-Britt Retter was born and raised in the coastal Saami community Unjárga-Nesseby by Varangerfjord in northeastern Norway. She was trained as a teacher at Sámi University College (Guovdageaidnu – Kautokeino, Norway) and holds an M.A. in bilingual studies from University of Wales. Since 2001, Retter has worked with arctic environmental issues, first at the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat (IPS) (Copenhagen, Denmark). She served as a member of Saami Parliament (Norway) for two terms (2005 – 2013). In her current position with the Saami Council which she has held since 2005, she has been involved in issues related to indigenous peoples and knowledge related to climate change, biodiversity, language, pollution and management of natural resources.