The Norwegian sovereign fund, the richest in the world with almost $ 2,000 billion in assets, announced on Monday, August 25 that it has given its actions in the American group of Caterpillar construction machinery, evoking human rights violations in Gaza. “There is no doubt that Caterpillar products are used to commit general and systematic violations of international humanitarian law” in the war territory for almost two years, the fund said in a statement.
Executed by the Central Bank of Norway, the Fund said he had acted on the recommendation of his ethical council, which argued that “excavators manufactured by Caterpillar are used by Israeli authorities for the general illegal destruction of Palestinian goods.”
Caterpillar did not immediately respond to an AFP request to react to this information. The announcement was made after US scholarships closed on Monday.
The fund is removed from several Israeli companies
Promoted by the huge energy income of Norway, this fund is the largest in the world, with a weight of more than 20,000 billion crowns (almost $ 2,000 billion) with shares in some 8,500 companies worldwide. Before its disconnection, it was among the ten main shareholders of Caterpillar, with 1.2% of its capital, or 2.4 billion dollars.
Two weeks ago, Norway’s sovereign background had already announced to separate from her shares in 11 Israeli companies after revelations about her participation in an Israeli manufacturer of engines equipped with combat airplanes in the middle of the war in Gaza. The fund was also removed from five Israeli banks accused of having financed the construction of illegal colonies in the West Bank occupied by Israel: First International Bank of Israel, Fibi Holdings, Bank Leumi Leumi Le-Israel, Mizrahi Tefahot and Bank Hapoalim.
Strong criticism
The Fund has been strongly criticized in recent weeks for its investments in companies accused of playing a role in the war in Gaza, caused by the unprecedented attack against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023, or in the colonization in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
The Aftenposten newspaper significantly calculated that the fund had increased its participations in 33 Israeli companies and took actions in three in 2024, while the war in Gaza was in its fury. If since then it has been disconnected from several of them, the fund was still present in the capital of 38 companies that appear in Israel, for a total value of 19 billion crowns (1.9 billion dollars), on August 14. His boss, Nicolai Tangen, said the Swedish newspaper last week Dagens last week that this investment issue linked to Israel was “the worst raised (he) had never met.” “
Source: BFM TV
