The public sector union fund said it was divesting "due to an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious or systemic human rights violations."
On Monday a USD$70 billion pension fund owned by Norway's public sector employee unions announced that it would divest from four companies involved in the Dakota Access Pipeline Project "due to an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious or systemic human rights violations."
The announcement came just one day before San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to divest from banks funding the massive pipeline project which violates the treaty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and threatens the drinking was of millions in North Dakota.
KLP, which is also Norway's largest life insurance company, announced that it would divest itself of almost USD$67 million in shares in Energy Transfer Partners, the company which owns the controversial pipeline project, as well as Phillips 66, Enbridge Inc. and Marathon Petroleum Corp which are all major investors in the project.
In announcing the decision KLP said it placed significant weight on the March 3 report by the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples which concluded that the project violated the U.N. declaration on the rights of Indigenous people because it was approved "without an adequate social, cultural or environmental assessment" and in "the absence of meaningful consultation or participation by the tribes."
While KLP made explicit references to the multiple reports of state and local law enforcement violence against peaceful, unarmed protesters, the company required independent "documentation that a company knew or should have known that the authorities would violate human rights."
Perhaps most significantly, the company noted that the failure to adequately consult the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe "under international guidelines" in and of itself constituted a "serious violation of human rights."
The company noted that it had spent months following the protests against the pipeline and even sent representatives to the U.S. to meet with Tribal members and water protectors.
"We have had a long and thorough process on this case. It has been complicated, but I am confident that we have now reached the right conclusion," said KLP's CEO Sverre Thornes in a press release.
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On Monday a USD$70 billion pension fund owned by Norway's public sector employee unions announced that it would divest from four companies involved in the Dakota Access Pipeline Project "due to an unacceptable risk of contributing to serious or systemic human rights violations."
The announcement came just one day before San Francisco's Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to divest from banks funding the massive pipeline project which violates the treaty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and threatens the drinking was of millions in North Dakota.
KLP, which is also Norway's largest life insurance company, announced that it would divest itself of almost USD$67 million in shares in Energy Transfer Partners, the company which owns the controversial pipeline project, as well as Phillips 66, Enbridge Inc. and Marathon Petroleum Corp which are all major investors in the project.
In announcing the decision KLP said it placed significant weight on the March 3 report by the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples which concluded that the project violated the U.N. declaration on the rights of Indigenous people because it was approved "without an adequate social, cultural or environmental assessment" and in "the absence of meaningful consultation or participation by the tribes."
While KLP made explicit references to the multiple reports of state and local law enforcement violence against peaceful, unarmed protesters, the company required independent "documentation that a company knew or should have known that the authorities would violate human rights."
Perhaps most significantly, the company noted that the failure to adequately consult the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe "under international guidelines" in and of itself constituted a "serious violation of human rights."
The company noted that it had spent months following the protests against the pipeline and even sent representatives to the U.S. to meet with Tribal members and water protectors.
"We have had a long and thorough process on this case. It has been complicated, but I am confident that we have now reached the right conclusion," said KLP's CEO Sverre Thornes in a press release.
Source
Responses to "Norway's largest insurance company to divest $67 million from DAPL, says Human rights are violated"