Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 12, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Norway's wealth fund excludes Eramet over environmental and human rights concerns linked to PT Weda Bay Nickel operations.
OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's sovereign wealth fund has excluded French mining group Eramet from its portfolio on ethical grounds, a spokesperson for the fund's operator, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), said on Friday.
The fund held a 0.44% stake in Eramet worth $6.8 million as of June 30, according to fund data.
The divestment was made on the recommendation of the fund's ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, due to Eramet's role as operator of Indonesia's PT Weda Bay Nickel joint venture mine.
"The Council on Ethics recommends that Eramet SA be excluded... due to an unacceptable risk that the company is contributing to, or is itself responsible for, severe environmental damage and serious violation of the human rights of uncontacted indigenous people," the council said in a statement.
Eramet told Reuters it deeply regretted the exclusion and that it was reviewing the fund's report.
"Since 2017, Eramet has consistently exercised its role as minority shareholder with transparency and high standards, aiming to positively influence and make constructive proposals," Eramet said, adding that it had been promoting environmental stewardship and best mining practices.
Separately, Indonesian officials said on Friday a task- force had seized plots spanning hundreds of acres from miner PT Weda Bay Nickel for lack of relevant forestry permits.
Indonesia is cracking down on illegal exploitation of natural resources, with President Prabowo Subianto saying last week that more than 1,000 such mining operations had been identified.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, additional reporting by Guz Trompiz in Paris, editing by Louise Rasmussen, Gwladys Fouche, Susan Fenton, Elaine Hardcastle)
Eramet was excluded on the recommendation of the Council on Ethics due to an unacceptable risk of contributing to severe environmental damage and serious violations of human rights.
As of June 30, Norway's sovereign wealth fund held a 0.44% stake in Eramet, valued at $6.8 million.
Indonesian officials reported that a task force seized plots of land from PT Weda Bay Nickel for lacking relevant forestry permits.
Eramet expressed deep regret over the exclusion and stated that it was reviewing the fund's report.
Indonesia is cracking down on illegal exploitation of natural resources, with President Prabowo Subianto announcing that over 1,000 illegal mining operations have been identified.
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