Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is considering tightening ethical criteria for its investments and taking away more investments from global companies linked to Israel’s war in Gaza, Reuters reported, according to a letter the fund’s Ethics Board sent to Norway’s ministry. Finance on August 30.
The Fund, one of the world’s largest investment institutions with an investment portfolio worth about $1.7 trillion, has come under intense pressure in recent months from human rights organizations in Norway to show solidarity with the Palestinians and “do more.” Divest from companies associated with Israel’s military activities.
According to the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund’s Ethics Board, in a letter seen by Reuters, the Fund must impose the strictest interpretation of its work standards on companies cooperating with the Green Line and Israeli activities in Gaza.
The letter stems in part from a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague that Israel’s occupation of the Green Line was illegal. The letter stated: “The Ethics Board believes that ethical guidelines warrant the exclusion of several companies from the Global Government Pension Fund in addition to those already excluded.”
Although the letter did not specify which companies it targeted, “Reuters” believes that it is about the US companies RTX Corp., General Electric and General Dynamics. The Ethics Council wrote that “there are very few eligible companies left in the fund” in part because many US defense industry manufacturers have already been banned for their past activities.
“The pressure just builds”
In the past, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has divested itself of a number of Israeli and international companies working on the Green Line. The fund still invests in 77 Israeli companies worth $1.4 billion, including Israeli banks.
In recent months, the fund, which has ethical standards set by the Norwegian parliament, has come under increasing political pressure from various parties, human rights organizations and associations, demanding that it completely abandon Israeli investments because of the war in Gaza. At the start of the war, the fund said it was “re-examining” investments in war-related defense companies in Israel, but there has been no update since then.
The pressure just builds. It cannot be done in a way that pleases everyone. It’s incredibly difficult,” one Norwegian official told The Financial Times in May.
Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – published on September 4, 2024.
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