PensionsNovember 25, 2025

Norway Pension Giant’s ‘Ethical’ Investment Policy Placed on Hold by Parliament

The $2.1 trillion Norges Bank Investment Management will not be able to exclude companies or put them under observation for almost a year, while a legislative committee reviews its standards.

Reported by Michael Katz

Norway’s parliament ordered Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the country’s $2.1 billion sovereign wealth fund, to postpone any ethics-related investment decisions for almost a year. The Storting said the pause will be implemented while a committee conducts a review of the ethical framework for the Government Pension Fund Global.

“This review is necessary to safeguard the pension fund and key considerations,” Minister of Finance Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. “We must find a balance between the principles the fund is meant to uphold.”

The Storting has formed a committee to examine the current standards for excluding and divesting holdings from the GPFG, which are based on the recommendations of Norges Bank’s Council on Ethics. After it conducts the review, the committee will propose changes to the pension fund’s ethical framework in a report due by October 15, 2026.

Until then, Norway’s ministry of finance said, NBIM should conduct “enhanced due diligence” for investments “where the conditions for the fund’s investments in a country may change significantly over a short time period, for instance in the event of armed conflict.”

However, the Storting instructed the ethics council not to make any recommendations on whether to place a company on observation or exclusion, but to instead inform Norges Bank about companies it flags for potential engagement. Norges Bank will then follow up with companies through dialogue, voting and—potentially—divestment within its mandate.

“The period during which the temporary guidelines apply, Norway will continue to uphold its obligations under international law,” the parliament stated. “The Council on Ethics will continue to monitor the fund’s investments to identify companies that contribute to or are responsible for production or behavior that violates the guidelines.”

As of the end of 2024, there were 104 companies excluded by the GPFG, based on the recommendations of its Council of Ethics. The list of excluded companies was most recently updated September 12.

“The committee’s mandate underlines how Norway is currently facing its most serious security policy situation since World War II,” the parliamentary statement said, noting that value chains are increasingly complex and often involve vast networks of subcontractors from multiple countries. “Moreover, the distinction between military and civilian technology has become more blurred.”

Under guidelines issued by the Norwegian ministry of finance, which are now suspended, the Council on Ethics assesses companies and makes recommendations to Norges Bank’s executive board. The board has the final say on whether companies should be excluded from the fund, placed under observation or followed up through active ownership.

Companies are also subject to exclusion if there is an unacceptable risk that they are contributing to or responsible for “serious violations of fundamental ethical norms.” Norges Bank’s Executive Board bases its decisions on assessments of the probability of future violations, the severity and extent of the violations, and any connection between the violations and one of the GPFG’s portfolio companies.