Oil-Rich Norway To Divest
Norway is divesting.
This month, the Norwegian parliament voted to divest $13 billion from the fossil fuel industry.
With a $1 trillion in assets, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. It also was built on Norway’s oil earnings.
The Government Pension Fund Global will divest $6 billion from eight coal companies and $7 billion from 150 oil exploration or production companies.
Norway’s parliament approved this month for the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which manages $1 trillion of Norway’s assets, to divest $13 billion of investments from fossil fuels.
Additionally, the fund will implement a legal mandate to invest in renewable energy projects rather than fossil fuel related energy companies. The legislation allocates the fund to make investments up to $20 billion, beginning with wind and solar projects in developed markets.
Propelled by an increase in solar and wind power capacity, Norway’s finance ministry estimates that, within the next 10 years, the value of the global renewable energy infrastructure market will grow by 50% – to $4.2 trillion.
The head of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, which manages $26 trillion of assets, stated that the fund pulling investments from fossil fuels and redirecting them to renewables “sends a clear signal to the rest of the market.”
The fund is the latest of many financial institutions that have recognized the financial risks posed by fossil fuels, divested, and then capitalized on the possibilities of renewables.
As the environmental, moral, and financial case for fossil fuel free investing becomes more apparent, individuals and institutional investors around the world are choosing to divest. To date, more than 1,000 organizations and 58,000 individuals have committed to divesting.
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