Pull the oil fund out of the rainforest
Norway is among those pressing for the protection of the rainforests. At the same time, during 2008, Norway invested 8.7 billion kroner in companies that are destroying the rainforest.
Powerful economic interests within the forestry industry, plantation sector, industrial agriculture and the petroleum sector are some of the forces behind the destruction of the world’s rainforests. One of the solutions to the environmental crisis is to make wealthy capital funds, such as the Norwegian Government Pension Fund – Global (the “Petroleum Fund”), refrain from investing in companies that are damaging rainforests. The Norwegian Petroleum Fund is amongst the largest in the world. In 2008 the fund invested at least 8.7 billion kroner in some of the world’s most aggressive companies in terms of damaging rainforests, according to Rainforest Foundation Norway. These include the logging companies Samling (Malaysia) and Olam (Singapore), the palm oil company Wilmar International (Singapore), as well as the three oil companies Repsol (Spain), Occidental (USA) and Chevron (USA). The Petroleum Fund has increased its investments in these companies from 4.8 billion kroner in 2007 to 8.7 billion kroner in 2008.