Norway drops oilsands investments

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says news that one of the world’s largest investment funds will exclude four Canadian oilsands producers from consideration for investing is part of a continuing shift in global attitudes for which oil companies will have to adjust.

On Wednesday, Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, announced it would stop investing in Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Cenovus Energy Inc., Suncor Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil Ltd. after concluding they produce unacceptable levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

It also excluded three other non-Canadian companies, two over environmental concerns and one for human rights reasons. It said its holdings in all of the companies have been sold.

“We’ve seen investors around the world looking at the risks associated with climate change as an integral part of investment decisions they make,” said Trudeau in Ottawa on Wednesday.

“That is why it is so important for Canada to continue to move forward on fighting climate change and reduce our emissions in all sectors, and I can highlight that many companies in the energy sector have understood that the investment climate is shifting and there is a need for clear leadership and clear targets to reach on fighting climate change to draw on global capital.”

The fund says the companies have no specific plans to reduce emissions to an acceptable level “within a reasonable period of time” and adds their GHG emissions are not subject to a regulatory regime as stringent as the European Union GHG emissions trading system.