Norway blacklists 'unethical' companies

02 February 2009

Weighing ethical and environment concerns more than profits, Norway has blacklisted and divested its holdings in the US cluster bomb making company, Textron Inc. Corporation and the Canadian mining company Barrick Gold Corporation from the $300-billion Norway's Government Pension Fund, the county's sovereign wealth fund.

Among the largest global pension funds, it was earlier called The Petroleum Fund of Norway. In January 2006, the fund changed its name to Government Pension Fund, Statens pensjonsfond - Utland, into which the surplus income from by Norwegian petroleum sales is deposited. fund is managed by the Norwegian Central Bank on behalf of the ministry of finance.

Excess Return 1998-2007

The blacklisting followed after the Council on Ethics advised the Norwegian government that its two investments, one harming the environment and the other manufacturing the deadly cluster bombs were contravening its ethical investments rules.

The blacklisted names include some of the most powerful global corporations, including BAE, Boeing, EADS, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Rio Tinto, Vedanta and Wal-Mart on grounds ranging from environmental damage an labour practices to weapons manufacture. (See: Table)