Norway’s sovereign pension fund has sold its shares in French conglomerate Bolloré after citing unresolved concerns over serious human rights violations linked to Socfin plantations, including in Southeast Asia.
The decision was made public on 26 February in a report from Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the Norwegian fund. It said it had spent years in dialogue with Bolloré SE and Compagnie de l’Odet SE over human rights risks, including sexual violence, harassment and labour rights abuses at Socfin plantations.
Socfin, founded in 1909, controls around 370,000 hectares of palm oil and rubber plantations in ten countries across Africa and Asia. The public statement says affected communities have raised complaints over land grabs, polluted water sources, harassment and violence. In Southeast Asia, the statement specifically included support from groups and community members in Indonesia and Cambodia.
An Indonesian labour representative from the Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity said Norway’s decision showed that someone was listening to affected workers and communities. Bunong community members in Busra, Cambodia, were also among those backing the statement, alongside Indonesian organisations including Sawit Watch, Pantau Gambut and Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakyat.
Norway’s pension fund, the world’s largest, had held shares in Bolloré worth 91 million$ at the start of 2025. According to the report, those shares had been sold by the end of the year.
