Norges Bank excludes POSCO and other companies from their pension fund due to risks of environmental damage

Norges Bank has decided to exclude the companies POSCO, IJM Corp Bhd, Genting Bhd and Daewoo International Corp from the investment universe of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG). The companies are excluded base on an assessment of the risk of severe environmental damage.

The Executive Board's decision on exclusion was made on the basis of the recommendations of the Council of Ethics. The Executive Board has not conducted an independent assessment of all aspects of the recommendations, but is satisfied that the exclusion criteria have been fulfilled (see § 3, subsection c, of the Guidelines for observation and exclusion from the Government Pension Fund Global).

Before deciding to exclude a company, Norges Bank shall consider whetherthe use of other measures, including the exercise of ownership rights, may be better suited. The Executive Board concludesthat it is not appropriate to use other measures in these cases.

For the past eight years communities in the Eastern Indian state of Odisha, mobilized by POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS, The People’s Movement Against POSCO), have managed to resist the establishment of a project by the South Korean steel giant POSCO which threatens to forcibly displace as many as 22,000 people.

Source and more information: http://www.nbim.no