AboitizPower in Norwegian fund blacklist for coal usage

MANILA, Philippines - Due to its heavy usage of coal, Aboitiz Power Corp. has become the only Philippine-based power firm among the companies initially blacklisted by the Norwegian central bank from the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG).

Norges Bank, the Norwegian central bank, excluded 52 companies worldwide, including 22 firms from the United States, seven each from China and India, three from Japan, two each from Chile, Canada, Hong Kong and Australia, and one each from the Philippines, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Poland and Greece.

American energy giant AES Corp., which partly owns the Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales, was also included in the list.

 “Norges Bank has decided to exclude 52 companies from the Government Pension Fund Global after an assessment of the new product-based coal criterion. The exclusions follow a first round of analysis by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM). Further exclusions will follow in 2016,” Norges Bank said in a statement.

Sought for comment, AboitizPower said in a statement NBIM has already divested all its holdings in the company in the first quarter of 2016. “There was no impact on the company’s performance or share price at the time,” it said.

The Norwegian central bank manages the GPFG through NBIM, which does not offer any banking services to the general public.