OSLO: Companies should be doing more to protect the world’s oceans, including combatting plastic waste pollution, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, said on Wednesday.
“The ocean is a vital part of the biosphere and an important part of the global economy,” said Yngve Slyngstad, the head of the fund valued at 8.66 trillion kroner (890 billion euros, $1.03 trillion).
“We expect companies to manage the challenges and opportunities related to sustainable use of the oceans,” he added.
A heavyweight on the global finance scene, the Government Pension Fund Global published a document outlining what it expects from the 9,000 companies in which it holds stakes.
Among other things, it urged them to integrate environmental ideas into their business strategies, suggesting for example that plastics producers plan a transition to a “circular economy” frugal in raw materials, and that fisheries companies incorporate forecasts on future stocks in their planning.
The recommendations apply to companies active at sea — shipping, fisheries, fish farms — as well as others on land whose activities may affect the oceans, such as distribution and plastics industries and agriculture, the fund said.
The fund has in the past laid out its expectations on other issues, including better efforts in water management, anti-corruption, human rights and tax transparency, judging that bad practices in these fields can ultimately hurt companies’ profitability.
On Wednesday, the fund also published a document reviewing its support of the United Nations sustainable development goals.
“Our most important contribution is to strengthen governance, improve performance and promote sustainable business practices,” Slyngstad said.
In addition to its expectations based purely on financial considerations, the fund also follows ethical guidelines that bar it from investing in, among other things, companies that commit serious human rights violations, manufacture nuclear or “particularly inhumane” weapons, or those in the coal and tobacco industries.
World’s biggest sovereign fund pleads to save oceans
World’s biggest sovereign fund pleads to save oceans
- “The ocean is a vital part of the biosphere and an important part of the global economy,” said Yngve Slyngstad, the head of the fund
Pakistan killed over 80 militants in strikes on TTP camps in Afghanistan — official
- Saturday’s airstrikes followed a series of attacks inside Pakistan amid a surge in militancy
- The Afghan Taliban authorities accuse Pakistani forces of killing civilians in the airstrikes
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan destroyed seven Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) camps and killed over 80 militants, a Pakistani security official said on Sunday, with the Afghan Taliban accusing Pakistani forces of killing civilians in the assault.
Saturday’s airstrikes followed a series of attacks inside Pakistan amid a surge in militancy. Authorities say the attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, were carried out by the TTP and allied groups that Islamabad alleges are operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Kabul denies this.
According to Pakistan’s information ministry, recent incidents included a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Islamabad, separate attacks in Bajaur and Bannu, and another recent incident in Bannu during the holy month of Ramadan, which started earlier this week. The government said it had “conclusive evidence” linking the attacks to militants directed by leadership based in Afghanistan.
“Last night, Pakistan’s intelligence-based air strikes destroyed seven centers of Fitna Al-Khawarij TTP in three provinces of Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost, in which more than eighty Khawarij (TTP militants) have been confirmed killed, while more are expected,” a Pakistani security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Arab News.
An earlier statement from Pakistan’s information ministry said the targets included a camp of a Daesh regional affiliate, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which claimed a suicide bombing at an Islamabad Shiite mosque that killed 32 people this month.
In an X post, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces had violated Afghan territory.
“Pakistani special military circles have once again trespassed into Afghan territory,” Mujahid said. “Last night, they bombed our civilian compatriots in Nangarhar and Paktika provinces, martyring and wounding dozens of people, including women and children.”
The Afghan Taliban’s claims of civilian casualties could not be independently verified. Pakistan did not immediately comment on the allegation that civilians had been killed in the strikes.
In a post on X, Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Pakistan’s charge d’affaires to Afghanistan Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani and lodged protest through a formal démarche in response to the Pakistani military strikes.
“IEA-MoFA (The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs) vehemently condemns the violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and the targeting of civilians, describing it as a flagrant breach of Afghanistan’s territorial integrity & a provocative action,” it said in a statement.
“The Pakistani side was also categorically informed that safeguarding Afghanistan’s territorial integrity is the religious responsibility of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan; henceforth, the responsibility for any adverse consequences of such actions will rest with the opposing side.”
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have escalated since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. Pakistan says cross-border militant attacks have increased since then and has accused the Taliban of failing to honor commitments under the 2020 Doha Agreement to prevent Afghan soil from being used for attacks against other countries. The Taliban deny allowing such activity and have previously rejected similar accusations.
Saturday’s exchange of accusations marks one of the most direct confrontations between the two neighbors in recent months and risks further straining already fragile ties along the volatile border.
