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Norway Wealth Fund to Require Firms Where It Holds Stakes to Cut Emissions to Zero by 2050

Norway government reassess the investment policy priorities of the world’s biggest wealth fund which manages 1.4 trillion USD in assets across more than 9,100 companies worldwide.

The expert group, appointed by Norway’s Finance Ministry, recommended that the country change the mandate under which the fund operates to better handle climate risk. It is officially proposed the climate risks should underpin investment decisions across Norges Bank Investment Management.

Experts underline that through its portfolio holdings, the wealth fund emits twice as much greenhouse gases as the entire Norwegian economy and it isn’t included in official emissions statistics of the country. For instance, Norway wealth fund still holds stakes in such fossil fuel majors as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP, because several years earlier Norway failed to take political decision to sell its portfolio of oil stocks.

Proposed changes would include giving the fund greater scope to put pressure on greenhouse gas emitters in its portfolio, with scope to divest those that are too slow to cut their carbon footprint. The wealth fund thus would push companies it invests in to cut their carbon dioxide emissions to zero by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.