Ahead of the May 27 conclusion of the Norwegian parliamentary review into a proposal to divest The Government Pension Fund from companies unlawfully operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International said:
“Norway’s Government Pension Fund is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. The Norwegian government should divest its pension fund from any companies found to be involved in maintaining Israel’s unlawful occupation in the OPT. It should also engage in rigorous screening of all investments, in line with international business and human rights standards. Divestment would chart a new human rights course.
“After 58 years of brutal military occupation, it is unjust that the Norwegian Pension Fund is benefiting from investments in companies profiting from Israel’s grave violations of Palestinians’ rights. Amnesty International has documented the commission, over decades, of war crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“Furthermore, Amnesty International and many other human rights organizations and UN bodies, have provided abundant evidence of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip. Any companies unlawfully operating in the OPT risk reinforcing, normalizing and sustaining one of the world’s longest and deadliest military occupations.
“States must ensure that their sovereign wealth funds are not contributing to or profiting from Israel’s unlawful occupation, its system of apartheid, or the genocide in Gaza. Under international law, as reflected in the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in July 2024, states are under an obligation to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in maintaining the unlawful occupation and illegal settlements.
“Israel’s genocide in Gaza is simultaneously unbearable and undeniable as are its cruel system of apartheid and unlawful occupation. As European governments are finally compelled to live up to their commitments, they must move from words to action. There is no time to lose, every delay costs human lives in Gaza and emboldens Israel to commit further atrocity crimes throughout the OPT.”
Background
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global is the world’s largest government owned investment fund. Worth $1.8 trillion, the Norwegian fund has been an international leader in the environmental, social and governance investment field.
Norges Bank, the state-owned financial institution that manages Norway’s Government Pension Fund has a responsibility to respect human rights as reflected in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has determined that investors’ operations, including that of minority shareholders such as Norges Bank, are directly linked to their investee companies’ involvement in human rights abuses and, therefore, that they have a responsibility to seek to prevent that involvement.
This requires conducting human rights due diligence to ensure that all the companies invested in by the pension fund do not cause or contribute to violations of international law and, where it finds they do and yet is unable to exercise leverage to prevent their unlawful activity, to responsibly divest its funds from those companies.
The obligation to prevent trade or investment relations that assist in maintaining the unlawful occupation and illegal settlements arises from states’ duty to ensure respect for international humanitarian law. This includes the duty to cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means serious breaches of international law; the duty to not recognize as lawful the situation created by such breaches; and the duty to not render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation. States also have an obligation to prevent genocide.
The Fund is currently invested in several companies listed in the UN database of businesses involved in the unlawful occupation of Palestine. This starkly exposes the shortcomings of the Fund’s current ethical framework, risking financially contributing to violations of international law, including the unlawful occupation of Palestine. Amnesty International has also documented the role of several of the companies under scrutiny.
Earlier this month, Amnesty Norway and 49 Norwegian organizations demanded action in a joint letter to the Ministry of Finance.
Last year the International Court of Justice confirmed that Israel has a legal obligation to end its unlawful occupation of the OPT and its systemic discrimination against the occupied Palestinian population. As a result of a UNGA resolution, in September 2024, Israel was given 12 months to withdraw from the OPT and third states must cooperate to make this happen.