Norway fund drops Saudi Aramco, 11 other Gulf firms

OSLO: Norway’s largest pension fund said Thursday it has divested from Saudi Aramco due to the oil giant’s lack of climate action and from 11 other Gulf companies over human rights concerns.

KLP, which manages over 700 billion kroner ($70 billion), said the exclusion amounted to $15 million.

The fund dropped 11 companies in the telecommunications and real estate sectors from Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates “over unacceptably high human rights violations’ risks”.