Norway’s largest pension fund, KLP, has stopped investing in 16 companies it says are linked to Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
Companies listed include Motorola and Alstom.
“Divesting from Motorola Solutions was a very straightforward decision over its surveillance role in the occupied territories,” KLP said. The fund manages around $95 billion of assets.
It said Motorola Solutions had assisted with Israeli security cameras, and that the total investments amounted to 275 million Norwegian crowns ($31.81 million) while that its divestment was complete.
KLP also divested telecom operators offering services within the West Bank as they contributed to making "the settlements attractive residential areas."
These included Altice Europe, Bezeq, Cellcom Israel and Partner Communications.
Government policy
The Norwegian government says Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank contravenes international law. In 2018, a Norwegian government review of boycotting Israeli produce and services from settlements said that if local authorities chose to support boycotts, it would not be illegal, although the ministry report recommended against such action.
In May, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, one of the largest in the world with around $1.1 trillion in assets, ceased investment in two Israeli companies linked to construction in the Palestinian Territories.
"The Executive Board has also decided to exclude the companies... due to the unacceptable risk that they contribute to systematic violations of individuals’ rights in situations or war or conflict," the fund said at the time.
"The Council on Ethics has recommended Norges Bank to exclude the companies based on the companies’ activities associated with Israeli settlements on the West Bank," it added.
The recent divestments follow longstanding Norwegian government policy on Israeli settlement construction. In December last year, Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide condemned an Israeli plan to build 5,000 more settlements in the West Bank.
"I am concerned that the settlement decisions made this week will undermine efforts to rebuild trust between Israelis and Palestinians, and imperil the prospects for achieving a negotiated two-state solution," Ms Eriksen Søreide said.
A senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation welcomed KLP’s move.
“The Norwegian step is significant to stop dealing with companies that support settlements on Palestinian land. We welcome it, and we urge other countries to take similar steps,” Wasel Abu Youssef told Reuters.
“After the United Nations announced its blacklist of companies that operate in settlements, all countries must either suspend the work of these companies or boycott them.”
The occupation of Palestinian territories is considered illegal by the United Nations. More than 600,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where tensions often flare up between settlers and the Palestinian population.
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
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Director: Atul Manjrekar
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F1 line ups in 2018
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Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
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