The fund is forbidden by parliament from investing in companies that produce nuclear weapons, landmines, or tobacco, among other criteria. Carbon emissions became a criterion for exclusion in 2016, and in 2017 the Council on Ethics, the fund’s ethics watchdog, recommended “a small handful” of oil, steel or cement companies be excluded for emitting too much greenhouse gas. Since then, recommendations had been under review by the board of the central bank, which oversees the fund, but a decision has been delayed several times. The bank has now received the necessary clarification from the finance ministry and the Council on Ethics is revising its earlier list of companies to consider. The fund has for years been a leader in excluding companies on ethical consideration and could encourage other international investors to do the same.
- Reuters -