Follow The Money

Norway is putting its money to work

The Norwegian Central Bank said in a letter to the Finance Ministry that the nation needed to diversify its investments. The fund, with Parliament’s approval, decided in 2015 to begin selling off its investments in mining companies and utilities that depend on burning coal.

Norway — with a population of five million, nearly half the number of its gigantic neighbor Sweden — has the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.

With assets over $1 trillion, Norway will stop investing in international petroleum companies. As a coastal country on the front lines of the crisis, Norway’s leaders need to consider the threat of climate change urgently. Fortunately, they are not alone.

The World Bank recently announced that, by 2020, it will no longer finance upstream oil and gas operations.

Although the political arrangements are coming together slowly — we will see where the Paris Accord ends up — business is signaling its move away from fossil fuels. If done well, this unlocked capital will super-charge clean-energy research and development and innovation.