OSLO: Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund, the world’s largest by assets, has decided to impose tougher requirements on how businesses it invests in manage water resources.
The fund, which is run by Norges Bank Investment Management, an arm of Norway’s central bank, will ask companies to come up with clear strategies and risk-management plans for water resources. Until now, the fund only required companies to report on their water use.
“We want our expectations to be very clear,” William Ambrose, a senior manager at NBIM told The Wall Street Journal.
The new provisions, part of the fund’s investment checklist that includes human rights, social issues and protecting the environment, will be outlined at an environmental conference in Tokyo later Thursday.
Because of its sheer size—it has over $850 billion in assets around the world—the Norwegian fund has become an influential voice on ethical, health and environmental issues. Over the years, it has blacklisted companies making land mines, nuclear weapons and tobacco.
