Norway SWF Could be Looking to Ban Cannabis Stocks
Posted on 04/09/2021
Norway Government Pension Fund Global is the largest listed equity investor in the world when it comes to sovereign wealth funds. The sovereign investor also has guidelines on whether to exclude an investment from its portfolio.
According to a press release from Norway’s Ministry of Finance, “The Government supports the Committee’s view that there are fundamentally problematic aspects of lethal autonomous weapons. However, there is no clear definition of lethal autonomous weapons as yet, and such weapons have according to the Committee not been entered into use thus far. The Government is to that end not proposing such a criterion at this time. The Ministry will continue to examine a potential criterion in this regard, in view of current international efforts to develop guidelines on the use of such weapons. As far as nuclear weapons are concerned, the Government is proposing that the guidelines shall apply also to platforms produced exclusively for the delivery of nuclear weapons.
In proposing to introduce a criterion targeting producers of cannabis as a recreational drug, the Government attaches weight to the production of this product being prohibited in Norway, as well as to Norway having ratified the international drug control conventions. The Government also supports the Committee’s view that there is no broad consensus in Norwegian society that would justify exclusion of gaming companies, producers of alcohol or producers of weapons in general.”