KLP is Norway’s largest pension management company. blacklisted More than a dozen Gulf companies from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait have gone public over concerns they could facilitate human rights abuses, and even divested from Saudi Aramco over climate risks, Bloomberg reported.
KLP, which oversees $70 billion in global investments, has excluded companies in the real estate sector because migrant workers from Africa and Asia face human rights abuses and discrimination, and the telecommunications sector because of developments in artificial intelligence. Targeting (AI) increases the risk of surveillance and censorship in the region.
”Gulf states continue to be characterized by authoritarian government systems that restrict freedom of expression and political rights, including for critics and human rights activists.” Kiran Aziz, head of responsible investment at KLP, said in a statement.
Norway is one of the most controversial countries in Europe when it comes to energy policy.
Meanwhile, the Nordic country boasts one of the most advanced oil and gas industries in the world, becoming the largest exporter of natural gas to Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and has fully embraced that role in recent years. ing. On the other hand, Norway is proud of Some impressive ESG statisticsAlmost 90% of new cars sold in the country in 2022 will be electric vehicles.
And Norwegian financial institutions don’t seem to be shying away from ESG initiatives. In May, Norway’s giant sovereign wealth fund lent me support to exxon mobil company (NYSE:XOM) and chevron company (NYSE:CVX) shareholders join efforts to implement emissions targets. Norway’s wealth fund is the largest in the world, with approximately $1.4 trillion in assets. The company is also a major supporter of oil and gas, with $37 billion, or 5.9% of its total equity investment, invested in fossil fuel interests. The fund holds Exxon’s sixth largest holding. But earlier this year, as energy prices soared, wealth funds made big profits in oil and gas and effectively reduced their stakes.
Written by Charles Kennedy, Oilprice.com
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