QIA to stop coal investments in ESG move

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is looking to limit its investments in fossil fuels as part of a plan to move into greener assets.

The sovereign wealth fund’s chief executive Mansoor bin Ebrahim al-Mahmoud told Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos that “we’re not going to invest more in the coal business”.

The rise of ESG and responsible investment has led several SWFs to reduce their exposure to fossil fuel investments. Most notably the Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund decided in June 2019 to sell off its stakes in 134 oil and gas businesses worth more than $8 billion.

The QIA chief did not go so far as to suggest his fund would be divesting any of its oil and gas interests. “We have some investment in oil and gas companies. This is a fact and this is a sector you can’t ignore,” said Al-Mahmoud.

However, he added that this part of the portfolio will not “expand that much” while the fund will look to increase its involvement in zero-emission infrastructure projects which currently make up 44% of the fund’s infrastructure investments.

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