Norwegian fund giant to sell its stakes in companies over environmental concerns
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Norway's $1.15 trillion Cdn sovereign-wealth oil fund announced this week that it will sell its stakes in four Asian companies over environmental concerns, underlining yet again how willing it is to take an activist approach to companies that fail to meet its ethical standards.
The mammoth fund, which is financed by profits, taxes and fees from Norway's offshore oil and gas sector, said it would divest from South Korean steelmaker Posco, its subsidiary Daewoo International Corp., and two Malaysian companies, Genting Berhad and IJM Corporation Berhad.
The sell decision came from the fund's ethical council. It said the four companies may be responsible for environmental damage linked to the conversion of tropical forests in Indonesia into palm oil plantations.
The four companies are the latest to join a blacklist of more than 60 companies that have been excluded from the fund's portfolio for a variety of environmental, social or governance reasons.
Source: CBC (link opens in a new window)
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