AP2, Gothenburg, Sweden, divested 550 million Swedish kronor ($66.1 million) of assets from fossil-fuel production companies.
The 300.6 billion Swedish kronor pension fund has divested its holdings in 11 coal companies and eight oil and gas production companies. The move is part of the fund’s risk assessment of fossil-fuel production companies, focusing on the potential climate impact of these companies.
AP2 has now divested its holdings in 23 coal and 15 oil and gas companies. The majority of turnover generated by the coal companies involved in the divestment comes from the sale of thermal coal. A number of the oil and gas companies have substantial exposure to high-cost projects, such as oil extraction from oil sands, said a statement on the fund’s website on Monday.
A spokeswoman for the pension fund said the assets have already been divested and reinvested in other sectors.
"In assessing the financial impact of climate risks on portfolio companies, the fund's concern is to determine whether the risks these companies face have been factored into their market price,” said CEO Eva Halvarsson in the statement. “Both our analysis of fossil-energy companies and our assessment of the energy sector at the close of last year have been conducted in strict adherence to the fund's stated mission, namely: to take ethical and environmental concerns into account, without abandoning the broad goal of a maximum return on assets. This is why these analyses adopt a financial perspective. Disinvestment from these companies serves to protect the fund's long-term return on invested assets.”