Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, dropped 11 companies in 2015 over their connections to forest destruction: six palm oil companies, four pulp and paper companies, and one coal company.
NGOs have been raising this issue with GPFG for several year.
Of particular significance is its divestment from First Pacific Group Ltd., the parent company of Indonesia’s Indofood – one of the biggest palm oil players connected to conflict palm oil and large-scale deforestation. Conflict palm oil is produced under conditions associated with the ongoing destruction of rainforests, expansion on carbon-rich peatlands, and/or human rights violations, including the failure to recognize and respect the customary land rights of forest-dependent communities and the use of forced and child labour.
