OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has excluded French mining group Eramet from its portfolio on ethical grounds, a spokesperson for the fund’s operator, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), said on Friday.
The fund held a 0.44% stake in Eramet worth $6.8 million as of June 30, according to fund data.
The divestment was made on the recommendation of the fund’s ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, due to Eramet’s role as operator of Indonesia’s PT Weda Bay Nickel joint venture mine.
“The Council on Ethics recommends that Eramet SA be excluded… due to an unacceptable risk that the company is contributing to, or is itself responsible for, severe environmental damage and serious violation of the human rights of uncontacted indigenous people,” the council said in a statement.
Eramet told Reuters it deeply regretted the exclusion and that it was reviewing the fund’s report.
“Since 2017, Eramet has consistently exercised its role as minority shareholder with transparency and high standards, aiming to positively influence and make constructive proposals,” Eramet said, adding that it had been promoting environmental stewardship and best mining practices.
Separately, Indonesian officials said on Friday a task- force had seized plots spanning hundreds of acres from miner PT Weda Bay Nickel for lack of relevant forestry permits.
Indonesia is cracking down on illegal exploitation of natural resources, with President Prabowo Subianto saying last week that more than 1,000 such mining operations had been identified.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, additional reporting by Guz Trompiz in Paris, editing by Louise Rasmussen, Gwladys Fouche, Susan Fenton, Elaine Hardcastle)
