Norges Bank’s executive board has decided to exclude nine companies from the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG).

The exclusions were made following recommendations from the Council on Ethics.

Although the executive board has not conducted an independent assessment of all aspects of the recommendations, it stated that it was satisfied that the observation and exclusion criteria had been fulfilled.

Aurora Cannabis Inc, Canopy Growth Corp, Cronos Group Inc and Tilray Brands Inc were excluded on the basis of the pension fund not being invested in companies that themselves or through entities produce cannabis for drug purposes.

The four companies are not in the fund’s portfolio, but they are in the benchmark index.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S, Eastern CO SAE and Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna Tbk PT were also excluded, on the grounds of the pension fund not being invested in companies that themselves or through entities produce tobacco or tobacco products.

Again, all three companies were in the benchmark index but not in the fund’s portfolio.

The executive board has also decided to exclude the companies NHPC Ltd and Young Poong Corp due to “unacceptable risk” that the firms contribute to severe climate damage.

Before deciding to exclude a company, Norges Bank considers whether the use of other measures, including the exercise of ownership rights, may be better suited.

The executive board concluded that it was not appropriate to use other measures in these cases.

Share Story: