OSLO, December 21 – Norway’s $1.4 trillion wealth fund, the world’s largest, will not deny firms that emit major greenhouse gases to meet plans to carbon-neutralize its investment portfolio by 2050.
Source: Reuters
The deputy head of the central bank – which is the foundation’s director – announced on Tuesday that such companies will be “active shareholder” by encouraging them to make the transition to net zero emissions and dismantle from them if they believe their business models are not viable, despite the fact that it will be a “active shareholder”
Norway’s oil and gas revenues are converted into stocks, bonds, properties, and renewable projects abroad. The fund invests in a range of 9,100 companies worldwide and owns a total of 1.4% of all listed global stocks.
It estimated that it was 107.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2019 – roughly twice Norway’s CO2 equivalent in that year.
The fund, like many other long-term investors, is looking at how to adapt to climate change.
In August, a government-appointed panel of the fund’s organization must urge the companies it invests in to cut their emissions to nil by mid-century, conforming to the Paris Agreement of 2015.
Jonas Gahr Stoere, at the time leader of the opposition and now prime minister, said the panel’s recommendation would be part of the fund’s duties.
The bank deputy governor Oeystein Boersum said on Tuesday that the bank supported the panel’s recommendation, but that this should not be interpreted as “a plan to veto companies with heavy emissions”.
In a speech, he added, “That is not our intention,” and instead the fund would be an “active shareholder.”
Boersum stated, “their products will still be needed in the low-carbon economy, using the example of high-emitting industries such as steel and cement production.”
“More of our discussion on transition plans is therefore focused on technological advancements and investments, as well as addressing the need for industry standards and lobbying, which is a major challenge,” he added.
He added that the money will be slammed from firms who have unsustainable business models.
One campaigner received a warning in the wake of the bank’s plan.
Martin Norman, a research and shareholder advocacy group at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, stated, “They are taking tremendous steps forward, but they have a long way to go.”
“We need emissions reductions now,” he said.
