STAVANGER, Norway (Reuters) – Oil-rich Norway is pushing ahead with plans to use part of its $400 billion sovereign wealth fund to invest in renewable energy development, a deputy finance minister said on Monday. The idea to divide the wealth fund, officially named the Government Pension Fund — Global, and siphon off part of it to invest in environmental projects has been criticized by Norway’s central bank, which runs the fund for the government. This spring Norway began an evaluation of the fund’s ethical guidelines, including the possibility of earmarking some of the cash for special purposes such as investing in environmental technology firms. Norges Bank has said diverting the fund’s cash for environmentally-friendly investment would clash with its effort to base investment on financial criteria, and the government should tap its own budget if it wants to fund such ventures. read more

Technorati Tags: fund, norway, , government, oil, bank, investor seminar news