The report was presented to Parliament on 4 April. Image: Flickr/Dion Hinchcliffe. |
Just a few weeks after news broke that Norway’s oil-generated sovereign wealth fund, Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), would focus 5% of its NOK5 trillion (US$800 billion) on the renewables sector, a new report was published to the Norwegian parliament on 4 April that expands on the new mandate.
The report states that the fund will nearly double its investments in renewable energy from US$5 billion to 8.4 billion. The set allocation to environmental mandates will rise from NOK20-30 billion (US$3.3-5 billion) to 30-50 billion (US$5-8.3 billion). Norges Bank, the central bank of Norway, will also report separately on the Fund’s investments in both emerging sectors and renewable energy.
The report also announced that the Ministry of Finance will commence research to further determine the risk from climate change on the Fund’s future efforts.
Despite this declaration, NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have already criticized the report, stating that both the Fund and Ministry did not do enough in focusing on the issue of climate change.
Samantha Smith, leader of the WWF’s global climate & energy initiative, said in a statement: “This was Norway’s chance to deliver on climate change, the same week that world scientists have released their report on intense impacts of climate change…Norway knows what it has to do, and how to do it, but today’s announcement doesn’t reflect that.”