Fossil Fuels and Finance: How Power and Agency Influenced the Norwegian Divestment Decisions
2026-06-22
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), one of the world’s largest investment funds, made two fossil fuel divestments—first removing coal companies from its portfolio and later removing some oil and gas companies. Although the two divestments occurred in similar contexts, they had significant differences in both process and outcomes. The evidence presented shows how overlapping fossil fuel and neoliberal hegemonic structures affected the choices and impacts of strategic actors working both for and against fossil fuel divestment. This study contributes to international political economy by presenting a framework for examining interactions between coexisting hegemonies that overlap without being equivalent. Using this framework, the study identifies how strategic actors may negotiate conflicts between power structures to achieve their goals and points to trade-offs resulting from leveraging one power structure against another.