Norway’s most significant private asset manager, Storebrand, has sold its investment out of energy firms Chevron, ExxonMobil, Rio Tinto, and BASF, crediting the companies’ climate lobbying practising for the move.
The Norwegian asset manager has divested its $10.4M stake in Chevron, $12.3M stake in Exxon, $2.7 million stake in BASF, the chemicals venture, and $3.8 million holdings in Rio Tinto. However, the stakes are minute in comparison to the Storebrand’s $91 investment in assets’ management, but the company is famous for engaging with companies over such matters, the move marks the escalation of asset manager’s preference.
The move came as the concerns rising in Europe over trade majors trying to influence the soften green finance regulations.
Meanwhile, the economies globally are working to slump the CO2 emission, thus implementing firm rules, to meet the Paris Climate Agreement terms.
Chevron responded to this by reporting that the company is mulling over a shareholders’ offer to further disclose the climate change lobbying issue and is working in favour of stakeholders’ concern, taking suitable courses of action.
While the BASF and Rio Tinto declined to comment on the topic, Exxon Mobil said that the world is facing the difficulty of fulfilling the global energy demand with increased world population and at the same time meeting the actions required to mitigate the climate change risks.