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Article

8 Aug 2013

Author:
Richard Milne, Financial Times

Norway’s oil fund urged to boost ethical credentials

As [Norway's Oil Fund] grows ever greater in size...critics of its approach to ownership are growing...“I don’t think the fund has kept up to speed. You have a responsibility to be a responsible investor. Therefore, human rights need to have a bigger focus,” Philip Jennings, the...general secretary of the UNI Global Union, told oil fund executives and Norwegian officials at a recent conference on responsible investment...Recognising the pressure, the Norwegian government has asked the fund’s strategy council...to consider changes that could deeply alter how it interacts with the companies it deals with"...[Recently, the Norwegian OECD Natl. Contact Point said] [t]he oil fund lacks a strategy for identifying and dealing with possible human rights violations at the companies it invests in...in a case about its stake in South Korean steelmaker Posco...Philip Jennings argues it should pay more attention to labour rights, not just children’s rights...The oil fund...insists it is interested in other issues, no matter what its critics say. “That does not mean that our work is limited to these areas . . . We also encourage companies to take responsibility for improving social and environmental practices that may negatively impact their development, [and] this includes human rights and labour rights.” [Refers to Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Storebrand, Walmart]