Norway's $1.35-Trillion Wealth Fund To Junk Climate Abusers

Norway's $1.35 trillion wealth fund, which is managed by former hedge fund chief Nicolai Tangen, has said it would ask companies where it has interest to be strong in managing climate risks.

Photo Insert: The lowered scores, including for Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission, come after a Jan. 24 report from short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged accounting fraud and stock manipulation at the sprawling Indian conglomerate.

Curiously, the sovereign wealth fund grew because of Norway’s oil and gas revenues, and the money it manages has been invested in 9,000 companies worldwide, many of them abiding by sustainable ecological principles.

The fund said it would vote against board members who it deems are not doing enough on the issue.

"We will now vote against board members if a company has experienced material failures in the oversight, management or disclosure of climate risk," the fund said in its recently published annual report on responsible investments.

The fund has long engaged in climate change discussions with the companies it invests in. In 2022, the fund discussed climate change at 810 meetings it held with companies that represent 33% of the value of the fund's equity portfolio.

One of them was oil major Shell with whom the fund discussed the company's energy transition plan and climate change, it said.

Last year, the wealth fund reported losses amounting to $164 billion, just like other wealth funds that invested in tech stocks and other shares that were mauled when the global economy sank.

Shell is not the only energy company facing scrutiny this week. Sustainalytics downgraded corporate governance-related scores for three of India's Adani Group on ethics concerns, the sustainability ratings company said, citing questions a short-seller raised last month.

The lowered scores, including for Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission, come after a Jan. 24 report from short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged accounting fraud and stock manipulation at the sprawling Indian conglomerate, hammering the shares of its listed companies and the wealth of founder Gautam Adani.

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