The Government pension fund global : an analysis of the climate change strategy in the period 2006 to 2012

Abstract

This thesis in Political Economy is a case study of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) and the climate change strategy in the period 2006 to 2012. Climate change is a topic of growing interest among investors, and especially universal owners, due to the financial risks it might entail across all markets. The main methodological distinction in this study is the historical approach. The objective has been to find out how climate change is on the agenda, and whether it has been a consistent strategy over the period. The GPFG is placed within a distinctive institutional design, which is given attention also in this thesis, and the three most relevant actors in this regard has been the overall manger of the Fund, The Ministry of Finance, the operational manager, Norges Banks investment Management (NBIM), and the independent Council on Ethics. It was found that climate change is an issue which has gained increased attention over the period. Among others, it is a focus area in NBIM’s ownership activity and the Ministry has initiated large research projects on the financial effect of climate change. There has however been some inconsistency in how the actors communicate their climate change strategy with the owners of the GPFG, the Norwegian people.