The American companies Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) and Lockheed Martin Corporation (Lockheed Martin) were excluded from the Government Fund in 2005 due to their production of cluster munitions. In recommendations to the Ministry of Finance, the Council on Ethics stated that the companies no longer produce cluster munitions. The Council on Ethics has nevertheless recommended that the companies should continue to be excluded from the GPFG because they produce key components for use in nuclear weapons.
The guidelines for the observation and exclusion of companies from the Fund’s investment universe provides that the assets in the fund shall not be invested in companies that produce weapons that violate fundamental humanitarian principles through their normal use, including cluster munitions and nuclear weapons.
The Council on Ethics routinely considers whether the basis for the exclusion of a company is still present. In these cases, the Council has found it to be proven that the companies ATK and Lockheed Martin have ended their production of cluster munitions, but that the companies are producing key components for use in nuclear weapons. The information has been taken, among other things, from the companies’own websites. The Council on Ethics has therefore recommended that the companies should remain excluded from the Fund.
About Council on Ethics for the Government Pension Fund Global
The role of the Council on Ethics for the Government Pension Fund Global is to provide evaluation on whether or not investment in specified companies is inconsistent with the established ethical guidelines. The Ministry of Finance makes decisions on the exclusion of companies from the Fund’s investment universe based on the Council’s recommendations. Both the Ministry’s decisions and the Council’s recommendations will be made publicly available on this website.
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