Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, has decided to exclude Halcyon Agri Corp Ltd, producer of natural crumb rubber and latex, due to severe environmental damage.

The executive board of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the investor of the pension fund’s assets, decided on excluding the company from its investments after receiving recommendations from the fund’s Council on Ethics.

The council’s recommendation stated that Halcyon provides an “unacceptable risk that the company is responsible for severe environmental damage” as a result of its conversion of tropical forest into rubber plantations in Cameroon.

Moreover, Halcyon’s plantation could damage an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Dja Faunal Reserve, particularly due to the substantial influx of workers, the council said.

NBIM’s board said it has not conducted an independent assessment of all aspects of the recommendation but is satisfied that the exclusion criteria have been fulfilled.

Before deciding to exclude a company, NBIM assesses whether exercising ownership rights is a better suited option, which it in this case did not find.

Halcyon produces specialised products made of natural rubber and owns rubber plantations and processing plants in Cameroon, the Ivory Coast and Malaysia.

At the close of 2017, the pension fund owned the equivalent of 0.1 per cent of Halcyon’s shares, worth NOK 5.5m.

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