Swedish pension fund AP7 has blacklisted a further seven companies, bringing the total number of firms excluded from the fund’s investment universe to 110.

The companies were blacklisted because they do not act in line with the Paris Agreement due to their “large-scale operations” in the coal or oil industry without climate change plans.

For their large-scale oil extraction without climate change plans, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, PetroChina Company Limited, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, and Saudi Arabian Oil Company have been blacklisted.

Meanwhile, the companies excluded for their large-scale coal operations without climate change plans were Shanxi Coal International Energy Group Co., Ltd, Wintime Energy Group Co., Ltd, and Zhejiang Zheneng Electric Power Co., Ltd.

Altogether, 51 fossil fuel companies have been blacklisted by AP7 based on the Paris Agreement, while a further 10 oil and coal companies have been excluded on other grounds.

“AP7 invests in companies that acceptably comply with the requirements of the international conventions that Sweden has signed and which are expressed in the UN Global Compact's 10 principles,” the pension fund stated.

“The principles describe companies' responsibility for human rights, working conditions, the environment and anti-corruption. If the companies violate these conventions, they are blacklisted and excluded. AP7 also blacklists companies that participate in the development and production of nuclear weapons.

“Blacklisting is an influence tool in conjunction with other influence methods such as company dialogues and voting at general meetings.”

AP7 noted that analysis had shown that the phase-out of coal as an energy source was the single most important measure to curb climate change and had therefore been put into focus.

In 2022, it tightened its requirements with the blacklisting of companies without conversion plans with large-scale coal operations or oil sands extraction.

Furthermore, during 2024, AP7 has continued the development of the criterion to include large oil companies without climate change plans.

The pension fund also revealed that two companies, Brookfield Corporation and Rolls-Royce Holdings, were no longer blacklisted, due to there being no verified information about ‘ongoing norm violations’ by the firms.

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