The Oil Fund may have stakes in 400 weapons companies
The Norwegian Pension Fund Global (Oil Fund) may hold stakes in as many as 400 weapons companies. The majority of Norwegians are opposed to such investments.
“The Future in Our Hands, Save the Children, Norwegian People’s Aid and Changemaker are behind a report on this. They suggest that neither the Norwegian Ministry of Finance nor the Oil Fund knows exactly how many weapons manufacturers that the fund has invested in,” writes VG.
This is due to the fact that there are no clear guidelines for what should be considered as weapons or makers thereof.
The report estimates that the fund, which is formally called the Government Pension Fund Global, may have invested in 100-150 weapons manufacturers and around 250 companies that supply key components to the weapons industry.
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Murder of civilians
“We can’t make money from companies that produce weapons that lead to the murder of civilians. That is simply inhuman. The Norwegian government must make sure that the Oil Fund gets rid of all its weapons-related investments,” Leader of The Future in Our Hands, Anja Bakken Riise, exclaims.
The organisations have additionally commissioned a poll on Norwegians’ attitudes towards the topic. 59 per cent are negative to the Oil Fund investing in weapons companies, while 27 per cent state that “it is okay”. 14 per cent are undecided, according to the Norstat poll.
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global has invested NOK 8 trillion in roughly 9,000 companies across the planet. It has withdrawn investments from several industries for ethical reasons but remains involved in several controversial companies.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
