On April 5, the Norwegian government approved the decision of the Norwegian Pension Fund to withdraw some 11,000 million euros from its investments in oil and gas companies. In addition, the Fund is authorized to invest up to 2% of its value in renewable energy. In addition, restrictions are established for investment in coal companies.
Norway’s Global Government’s Pension Fund (Statens Pensjonsfond Utland), commonly called the Petroleum Fund (Oljefondet), aims to ensure a responsible and long-term management of the oil and gas revenues of that country, which it owns in abundance. This fund is intended to benefit current and future generations in the event of a significant fall in oil prices. It is estimated to be the largest sovereign fund in the world.
However, the criteria for this divestment are strictly economic. “The goal is to make our total assets less vulnerable to a lasting fall in oil prices,” said Finance Minister Siv Jensen. In addition, Norwegian environmental organizations claim that investment in renewable energy should be further increased.
The excessive consumption of fossil fuels derived from capitalist globalization and transnational trade is in large part, following the increase in the temperature of the planet. A drastic reduction in its extraction and use is essential to curb global warming.
Thus, the actions of the Norwegian Petroleum Fund may, due to their economic success, be followed by other large investors. The fact that such an important organism in a hydrocarbon producing country questions their viability is an important step for the planet. “What is needed is to establish market conditions where prices include the social costs of pollutant emissions so that investments in efficient and clean energy and options that do not leave a carbon footprint are profitable,” said the president of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Climate Change. However, these measures do not question the current predatory system that creates so many inequalities and excessive consumption of all kinds of goods, overwhelming lives and the environment itself. Although there seems to be an increasingly active and determined citizenship, which increases the social pressure on the power structure to finally guarantee the future of the planet.
1 https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/meld.-st.-20-20182019/id2639311/sec
2 https://www.nbim.no/en/the-fund/about-the-fund/
3 https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2017/09/23/norways-sovereign-wealth-fund-passes-the-1trn-mark
4 https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/tar-oppstromsselskaper-ut-av-statens-pensjonsfond-utland/id2631707/
5 https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/tar-oppstromsselskaper-ut-av-statens-pensjonsfond-utland/id2631707/
6 https://news.un.org/es/story/2018/10/1443222
7 https://news.un.org/es/story/2019/07/145932
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