Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) had USD 18.6bn invested in the coal at the end of 2023, according to a report by the Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance.

According to the report, the fund, which is managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), was invested in 97 coal companies at the end of 2023.

Almost half (47) of these companies, representing USD 11bn of GPFG’s coal investment, have expansion plans, the study found.

Of the USD 18.6bn invested in coal, USD 14.2bn was invested in companies involved in thermal coal and USD 4.4bn was in firms involved in metallurgic coal.

NBIM’s guidelines set by the Ministry of Finance allow a 30 per cent threshold on the production and revenue from coal, with no restrictions on expansions.

The Nordic Center for Sustainable Finance said that this “undermines” Norway’s climate efforts and the USD 1.51bn donated by Norway to climate financing in 2023.

The report was presented to Norwegian MPs on 24 April, some of which have backed a proposal to lower the threshold to 10 per cent and introduce a new exclusion criterion for any coal company with planned expansion.

It also called on the government to lower the fund’s absolute thresholds on mining capacity from 20Mt of coal per year to 10Mt, and lower the production capacity from 10GW to 5GW.

“If the ethical guidelines were changed, and the fund could exclude companies based on more restrictive coal criteria, these companies would no longer be part of the investment universe,” the report stated.

“As such, these companies would no longer be part of the fund’s benchmark index. Excluding companies is therefore preferable to divestment as it would not affect the fund’s deviation from the benchmark index.

“Nine years after the historic decision to make GPFG a pioneer on coal divestment, parliament once again has the opportunity to make the fund an international climate leader.

“With all we know about the effects of the coal industry and how it accelerates the climate crisis, it is no longer ethically justifiable to stay invested in the world’s most polluting industry.”

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