OSLO: Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest with assets of more than $2.2 trillion, may once again be allowed to invest in firms that make nuclear weapons under a proposal made Thursday.
The fund currently excludes 14 companies, including industry giants Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Safran, because they develop or make nuclear weapons or their components.
The Norwegian government ordered a review of the fund’s ethical guidelines following criticism over its investments in groups accused of playing a role in the war in Gaza.
A commission established for that purpose, chaired by former central bank governor Svein Gjedrem, unveiled its recommendations on Thursday.
The fund could invest only in nuclear companies “based in a nuclear-weapon state as defined in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and allied with Norway”, the report said.
“This means that several British, French and American arms manufacturers will be brought back into the fund,” Gjedrem said as he presented the 434-page document.
The recommendations must still be submitted to a broad consultation before the government presents its conclusions to parliament for a vote next spring.
The fund is invested in more than 7,000 companies spanning the globe, and in aggregate owns around 1.5 percent of all listed companies worldwide, making it the world’s largest single investor.
