Closer dialog with companies

Our expectations and positions provide a basis for prioritising our work and engaging with companies we are invested in on their governance and long-term business models. In 2018 we published three positions on the composition and time commitment of boards.  

“Our dialogue with companies and their boards is one of our most important tools as an owner. We have interacted with boards through dialogue and voting. We expect the board to have sufficient expertise, capacity and independence from management to fulfil its duties”, says Yngve Slyngstad, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management.

In 2018 we published expectations on ocean sustainability and anti-corruption. We followed up on our expectations through leading a working group of the UN Global Compact that is developing international principles for ocean sustainability. We also had dialogue with companies on marine pollution and their anti-corruption efforts.

We raised environmental, social or governance issues at 1,493 meetings. We engaged with companies on banks’ climate disclosure, lending and deforestation, tax and transparency at UK companies and the marketing of breast-milk substitutes. As a long-term owner we prioritise strategic topics that we follow up over a number of years.

“Some new issues are emerging from the transition to a low-carbon economy. In 2018 we engaged in dialogue with companies in the automotive sector that use cobalt as a component of lithium batteries. We contacted companies to understand their low-emission plans and how they are managing the risk of human rights violations in their supply chains”, says Chief Corporate Governance Officer Carine Smith Ihenacho.

Responsible investment 2018

Press contacts

Marthe Skaar, Manager Communications and External Relations
Tel: +47 926 17 663 / +47 24 07 35 61

Thomas Sevang, Head of Communications and External Relations
Tel: +47 926 01 756 / +47 24 07 32 76

E-mail: press@nbim.no