![]() “For a large, long-term, global fund, there will be nowhere to hide,” he said. That same day, the deputy governor of Norges Bank, Øystein Børsum, seemed to refute Tangen’s idea that climate risk is irrelevant to long-term financial management. “Norges Bank supports such a goal,” the statement read. Weeks after his BBC interview, the Norwegian government put out a statement that categorically favored a net-zero target for the oil fund, with an expert group recommending that Norges Bank Investment Management be given an overall long-term goal of net-zero emissions from the companies in which the fund is invested. In the middle of all this, Tangen’s insistence that he doesn’t get involved in politics is rapidly sounding outdated. ![]() At the same time, the Norwegian government has instructed the fund to freeze all investments in Russia and to come up with a plan to fully divest from the Russian market, in support of broad international sanctions. Either way, oil and gas make up about 40 percent of Norway’s total exports - meaning an oil-price boom is big business. Already, Norwegian political forces are arguing over the issue: As right-wing parties call for more oil-exploration licenses to meet new demand, left-wing politicians say it wouldn’t make a difference as it would take too long for any new oil fields to start producing oil. Profits made from oil and gas in Norway are taxed at 78 percent, with the revenue going straight into the oil fund. The good performance looks set to continue as an energy crisis grips Europe. In January 2022, Norges Bank Investment Management said that last year the fund achieved its second-highest return, 1.6 trillion kroner, an increase of 14.5 percent, thanks to the strong performance of the U.S. Since Tangen was cleared to take over the oil fund in August 2020, its value has soared to 11.4 trillion Norwegian kroner ($1.3 trillion). “I’m going to look after the capital, safeguard it, and try to increase it.” “My job is quite straightforward,” Tangen said. “You don’t have a view on it?!” the presenter said. “That’s not something I decide or have a view on.” He was appearing on a show called HARDtalk that’s known for not letting guests off the hook - and this interview was no exception. “That is something you should ask the Norwegian politicians,” Tangen told the BBC in November when asked if vast reserves of oil and gas should be left in the ground. Since Norway got a progressive new prime minister in October, the focus has been on one key question: Will the fund, which owns shares in 9,000 companies, finally divest from oil stocks? As chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management - the arm of Norway’s central bank that runs the country’s massive oil fund and the world’s largest sovereign-wealth fund - he’s regularly called to answer questions about where the nation’s wealth is invested.
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