The Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global must withdraw their investments in Western-Sahara

The Norwegian Minister of Finance, Sigbjørn JohnsenLeader of the Council on Ethics, Gro Nystuen The Government Pension Fund – Global, known as the Oil Fund, has investments in fertilizer companies which help finance the occupation of Western Sahara contrary to International Law. SAIH demands that the Oil Fund immediately excludes the companies from its portfolio, and conducts a more strict interpretation of their ethical guidelines.Norwatch revealed on 5. October, that the Oil Fund has investments worth 2.4 billion in fertilizer companies carrying phosphates from occupied Western Sahara. This shows that there is an urgent need for the Oil Fund to conducts a more strict interpretation of their ethical guidelines.The Oil Funds’ ethical guidelines have as one of its instruments that it can withdraw companies from “the investment universe where it is considered unacceptable risk of contributing to: serious or systematic human rights violations such as murder, torture, deprivation of liberty...” SAIH believe this point should also apply to companies that are violating International Law by transporting phosphate. The Oil Fund however, has argued that this is not grounds enough to exclude companies. UN Secretary-General for Legal Affairs concluded in 2002 that all trade with Western Sahara which does not gain the Sahrawi people, is to be regarded as violation of International Law. Therefore SAIH argue that there also should be a simple matter to classify such contributive trading as a systematic violation of human rights.SAIH demand that:

The Oil Fund withdraws its investments from the fertilizer companies that are contributing to unlawful extraction of phosphate in Western Sahara.

The Oil Fund establishes a precedent on companies contributing to the violation of International Law in occupied area, will be excluded from the funds’ investments.

The Council on Ethics is expanded, so they have capacity to investigate whether the Oil Funds’ ethical guidelines are followed by companies the fund has in its portfolios.