The ethical committee of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund recommended this week to include significant policy improvements on issues that PAX has advocated for, including nuclear weapons, lethal autonomous weapons and controversial arms trade. In brief, it builds the norm against weapons causing indiscriminate harm and against the controversial arms trade.

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The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global invests oil revenues on behalf of all Norwegians and is the second largest pension fund on the planet. The fund (worth over EUR933 billion) is seen as a key player and actor that many other financial institutions look to.

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Its responsible investment policies are based on recommendations of a special ethics committee. Earlier this week, this committee issued a report with recommendations for strengthening the Funds’ ethical framework. In the past, when the Council on Ethics changed its guidelines around weapons systems, others have followed suit- notably with companies identified for exclusion.

Excluding inhumane weapons

The recognition of lethal autonomous weapons as “problematic as a matter of principle” is groundbreaking. The committee suggests excluding companies involved in developing or producing lethal autonomous weapons from the Fund’s investments. When implemented this would make the Fund one of the first financial institutions worldwide to implement such an exclusion, a reflection of the growing awareness of the issue of lethal autonomous weapons.

The committee also recommends the exclusion of nuclear weapons producers is expanded to companies involved in the development and production of key components of nuclear weapons and some platforms that are designed for delivering nuclear weapons. This would apply to submarines primarily, and could result in companies like Rolls-Royce or General Dynamics being added to the exclusion list.

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