Norwegian Commission Proposes Allowing Wealth Fund to Invest in Excluded Defence Companies
RIYADH, October 15 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) - A government-appointed commission recommended on Thursday that Norway allow its $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund to invest in certain Western defence companies currently excluded over their involvement in nuclear weapons production. The proposed change could permit investments worth tens of billions of dollars if adopted by the government and parliament.
The proposal would create an exemption for companies domiciled in nuclear-weapon states recognized under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that are allied with Norway. Current rules prevent investments in companies including Airbus, Boeing, BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin because of their contributions to nuclear weapons production.
Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg commissioned the review, citing changes in global security and Norway’s reliance on NATO’s nuclear umbrella. Companies could remain excluded on other ethical grounds even if they qualified for the proposed exemption.
Norway’s parliament paused ethics-based divestments last year amid scrutiny from the Trump administration, pending the review. Before that suspension, the independent Council on Ethics recommended exclusions to the central bank’s board, which made the final decisions. The commission proposed retaining the Council on Ethics but changing its operations so its reports would no longer automatically become public.
More than half the fund’s assets are invested in the United States. Stoltenberg also highlighted concentration within its equity holdings, with 10 companies accounting for more than 20% of the share portfolio’s value, including major U.S. technology companies such as Nvidia, Apple and Amazon.
Stoltenberg told Reuters that increasingly integrated supply chains made it harder to distinguish civilian from military products. He said his priority was to keep the fund broadly invested while maintaining an ethical framework, noting that individual investment decisions could have greater consequences as holdings became more concentrated. The fund finances a quarter of Norway’s public spending.
The commission’s recommendations will inform a government proposal expected in the annual white paper on the fund in spring 2027. Civil society groups, including the Norwegian Red Cross, oppose the change, arguing that it would legitimize investment in weapons of mass destruction.
Source: Reuters.
