Norway’s finance minister Jens Stoltenberg has defended investment by the country’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF) in companies linked to Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory, in the face of accusations by United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.
The former Nato chief was responding to the latest letter in a to-and-fro with Albanese — a 20 May letter she wrote to Stoltenberg and Espen Barth Eide, Norwegian minister of foreign affairs, to share “additional critical findings” from her investigations for a report she will present to the UN Human Rights Council next month.
Albanese, special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, said: “The first and most concerning finding is that Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) holds $121.5bn [€106.7bn) – 6.9% of its total value – in companies identified in my report as involved in supporting or enabling egregious violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
She said that while these 50 companies represented only a small fraction of Israel’s economy of occupation, they formed part of it.
In his reply, dated 30 May and published on the government’s website, Stoltenberg said the Norwegian government was deeply concerned by developments in Palestine, both in Gaza and in the West Bank.
“The message from the Norwegian Government is unequivocal: The violence must cease, all hostages must be released without delay, and Israel must immediately facilitate the full and unhindered resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” he said, in the more than 7,500-word letter, including details of the government’s policy and measures taken in relation to Israel’s “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
Regarding the NOK19trn (€1.6trn) GPFG’s investments in question, Stoltenberg said: “Based on thorough assessments, including of relevant legal issues, the Norwegian Government is confident that the GPFG’s investments do not violate Norway’s obligations under international law, in particular the obligations incumbent on all states arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
The letter dedicates much wordage to explaining the mechanics of the government’s arms-length approach to the ethics of the SWF’s investments.
“The professionally independent Council on Ethics is tasked with monitoring and assessing whether individual companies in which the fund is invested in have production or conduct that is in breach of the Ethical Guidelines,” Stoltenberg wrote.
He also played down the bottom-line effect on companies of being blacklisted by the oil fund, when the fund’s manager, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) did decide to exclude a company, selling its bonds and shares in the secondary market to other investors.
“This means that exclusions do not (more than marginally) impact the financing of the relevant company,” the finance minister said.
Regarding the finding cited by Albanese that 6.9% of the GPFG’s assets were invested in companies involved in unacceptable activity, Stoltenberg said the government had not found information in her letter on which companies this applied to.
“There is a large variation in how different organisations and initiatives assess a company’s connection to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as which types of connection that should be deemed as contributing to the occupation,” he said.
“It is therefore challenging to go into the details and different considerations and fact findings of these different lists,” he said.
NBIM has announced two exclusions of Israeli companies since its ethical council indicated a tougher stance on businesses helping Israel’s operations in the occupied Palestinian territories last August.
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