This fact sheet highlights a policy coherence gap between Norway’s global health commitments and the Government Pension Fund Global’s NOK 158 billion investments in alcohol companies. These include major transnational corporations driving expansion in the Global South, where they influence policy environments, promote self-regulation, and use CSR to gain legitimacy. This raises concerns about health equity, regulatory weakening, and risks to Norway’s credibility, as investments may indirectly support industry interference in public health policy.
In this fact sheet, FORUT recommends the following:
- The Ministry of Finance should ensure that alcohol is explicitly included in the ongoing review of the Fund’s ethical guidelines, with clear criteria covering health harm, policy interference, and policy coherence.
- NBIM should publish an annual overview of its alcohol-related equity and bond
holdings, including major companies and exposure in low- and middle-income
countries. - NBIM should classify alcohol industry lobbying, corporate political activity, and
aggressive expansion in the Global South as governance and sustainability risks
in its responsible investment assessments. - NBIM and the Council on Ethics should define clear expectations for alcohol
companies on lobbying, marketing, and policy influence, and recommend
exclusion where companies repeatedly undermine evidence-based regulation. - The Norwegian Parliament should request the Government to report on whether
alcohol should be included among the product-based exclusion list, along with
tobacco and cannabis. - The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health and Care Services, and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs should establish a formal coordination mechanism to
assess whether the Fund’s investment practices are consistent with Norway’s
global health and development commitments. - Norwegian authorities and NBIM should apply a stronger conflict-of-interest
approach by limiting reliance on alcohol industry actors in matters related to
health policy and responsible investment dialogue.
Recommended citation:
Amul, G., Bakke, Ø. & Braaten, E. (2026). The Fund’s Alcohol Investments in 2025.
FORUT Factsheet. Gjøvik, Norway: FORUT.