Norway wealth fund falls short on its climate ambitions

29/4/2024 11:29

        Norway's $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, falls short on its climate ambitions by failing to back multiple shareholder proposals pushing oil companies to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, an NGO report said on Monday.
        
        The fund pools the Nordic country's state revenues from oil and gas production. Since 2022 its aim is for the 9,000 companies it invests in globally to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.
        
        As part of its strategy, the fund's management, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), has set expectations for corporate boards on climate change and votes at annual general meetings on this issue.
        
        It says it engages with companies in multiple ways, including via voting on shareholder proposals, and in severe cases can divest from companies if they fail to respond.
        
        The fund is failing short, however, on that ambition, according to a report by Norwegian NGO Framtiden i vaare hender (the Future in our Hands), shared with Reuters ahead of its publication on Monday.