Charity ethical investment in Norway

Abstract

The charity and voluntary sector in Norway is substantial (Sivesind, 2007). Yet we know of no academic research which focuses on charity ethical investment in Norway. We have examined charity ethical investment policies and how these policies relate to the aims of charitable organisations. We survey large Norwegian charities using a postal questionnaire and semi structured interviews. The findings show that few charities publish an ethical investment policy, and it is often limited to screening out weapons, pornography and tobacco companies. The implementation of the policy differed substantially between charities. Only a few charities engage with companies directly and very few vote their shares on ethical matters as part of their investment policy. Monitoring of the ethical investment policy was often limited (or non-existent). We conclude with policy recommendations for charities.