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INFO RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN PRIORITY 2274
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PRIORITY 7904
RUEHRK/AMEMBASSY REYKJAVIK PRIORITY 0794
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 3076
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000330 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/NB (RAY DALLAND), EB/IFD/ODF (CHRISTOPHER WEBSTER), 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/03/2017 
TAGS: PREL EAID ENRG ECON EPET EINV KPIR NO
SUBJECT: SUSTAINABILITY SMORGASBORD: THE OSLO CSR CONFERENCE 
 
REF: A) OSLO 302 B) OSLO 254 C) OSLO 29 
 
Classified By: CDA Kevin M. Johnson, Reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary.  On March 28 through March 30, Norway 
hosted "Partnerships for Sustainable Development: The Oslo 
Conference on Good Governance and Environmental 
Responsibility."  Gathering public and private sector 
leaders, NGOs and international experts, including Nobel 
Laureate Muhammad Yunus and former Vice President Al Gore, 
the conference covered many issues under the umbrella of 
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).  Topics included human 
rights, ethical and environmental supply chain management, 
migration challenges, microfinance, CO2 reduction and 
anti-corruption.  Ambassador Whitney participated in a 
roundtable discussion focusing on the governmental role in 
CSR.  Several Norwegian ministers participated in the 
conference, including Environment Minister Bjoernoey, Foreign 
Minister Stoere and International Development Minister 
Solheim, who was surprisingly frank in expressing an 
anti-business bias.  Speakers from the multi-billion dollar 
Norwegian Pension Fund and the Fund's Ethical Council also 
raised ethical investing issues, discussing the Fund's recent 
delisting of Walmart.  The conference often voiced 
contradictory messages, stressing the need for private/public 
partnerships while simultaneously viewing private sector 
actors with suspicion.  End Summary. 
 
People, Planet and Profit 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  The conference consisted of several roundtable 
discussions and presentations.  In a seminar dedicated to 
doing business in developing countries, speakers covered 
issues including the balance between private sector actors' 
need for reasonable profit expectations and the public sector 
mandate of safeguarding human rights.  Creating international 
norms for ethical business practices were reviewed, in line 
with the U.N. Global Compact.  Speakers also tied in the need 
for the private sector to recognize employee health 
(particularly those suffering from HIV and malaria), as a 
solid sustainability pillar.  The Norwegian Environmental 
Minister emphasized the GON's goal to strengthen CO2 capture 
technologies, stressing the need for public and private 
cooperative initiatives.  Other environmental issues 
discussed included the use of biofuels and global fuel use, 
focusing on Indian and Chinese consumption.  Concerning 
anti-corruption, panelists addressed the challenges facing 
corporations who are confronted with bribery demands from 
public officials. 
 
¶3.  (U)  Nobel Laureate Yunus was featured in a roundtable 
discussion concerning microfinance.  He stressed that 
governments could actively support micro-lending initiatives 
through development assistance, which would be administered 
through microlending NGOs.  Yunus strongly advocated changes 
to current international banking legislation which would 
allow NGOs and private sector contributors to establish 
lending institutions.  Broader acceptance of commercial risks 
by "traditional" lenders, and the opportunities for venture 
capital investors, were also highlighted.  During the 
conference's closing, he remarked that "poverty is not 
created by poor people," but is rather "an artificial 
imposition on human beings." 
 
¶4.  (U)  Former Vice President Gore presented his slideshow, 
"An Inconvenient Truth," to a capacity audience.  Introduced 
by Foreign Minister Stoere, the audience included many 
dignitaries, such as the Norwegian Queen and Crown Prince. 
The presentation was well received. 
 
¶5.  (U)  The entire conference program may be found at 
www.csr-oslo.org. 
 
Minister Solheim Speaks His Mind.... 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (C)  International Development Minister Solheim 
participated extensively in the conference and made several 
controversial statements.  The Socialist Left Minister, who 
recently launched a major CSR initiative with U.S. Senator 
Richard Lugar (ref B), stressed that CSR must adhere to a 
fair distribution of growth, including active employer 
participation, and corporate entrepreneurship.  Solheim's 
view on CSR includes transparency, environmental stewardship, 
preventing money laundering, and tackling financial 
corruption, a recipe he views as integrating environmental 
needs, peace and prosperity. 
 
¶7.  (C)  Discussing the governmental role in encouraging CSR, 
Solheim referred to Iran.  The Minister spoke of how he 
advocated Norwegian engagement in that country during the 
Khatami regime, stating that the West lost an opportunity to 
bolster a "moderate and secular" Iranian government, because 
many countries did not, as Norway, invest in Iran.  He 
declared that "Iran would be a different place if the U.S. 
took the opportunity to invest" in that country, which would 
have "transformed" the Middle East. 
 
¶8.  (C)  He stated that Norway could not now demand that 
Norwegian corporations which previously invested under the 
Khatami regime disinvest, implicitly referring to 
government-controlled Norsk Hydro's and Statoil's Iranian 
projects.  He stated business could not be expected to make a 
huge investment one day, and revoke that investment on 
another day. 
 
¶9.  (C)  Solheim spoke of East Timor, alluding to a corporate 
investor with questionable business practices.  He stated 
that "even bringing in a company with a poor human rights 
record can help." 
 
....And Shows His Bias 
------------------------ 
 
¶10.  (C)  While pointing out that he is suspicious of 
business, Solheim supported setting high standards for 
corporate behavior, and advocated external reviews of 
corporate projects.  Reviewing the history of lending, he 
noted that in many cultures, money lenders were viewed as 
thieves or criminals.  This is because "poor people depended 
on the money lenders, who destroyed their lives."  His 
overall tone made it clear that he, like his party, is 
anti-capitalist. 
 
Ambassador Whitney Participates in Roundtable 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U)  The Ambassador, joined by members of several 
organizations, including the MFA, UN and Amnesty 
International, fielded questions on public/private 
partnerships, climate change and the UN Global Compact.  The 
roundtable, with an estimated audience of 300 conference 
attendees, allowed the Ambassador to speak on private sector 
CSR activities which further government development goals. 
His discussion of the USAID Global Development Alliance, for 
example, highlighted the value of joining together with 
private sector actors. 
 
Pension Fund issues 
-------------------- 
 
¶12.  (C)  The Norwegian Pension Fund's ethical investment 
guidelines were raised throughout the Conference.  The Fund, 
recently discussed in reftel A, manages approximately 300 
billion USD.  Knut Kjaer, the CEO of Norges Bank Investment 
Management, noted that the Fund maintains up to a 5 percent 
stake in over 3,000 companies. He emphasized that the Fund 
must provide a financial return to its beneficiaries, while 
strictly following certain ethical norms.  The Pension Fund 
has delisted several American companies, including Walmart, 
based upon alleged human rights violations or ethical 
infringements.  (Comment: The Walmart blacklisting was based 
upon a superficial reading of source materials which, in 
themselves, were often questionable at best.  Norway has 
numerous investments in companies which are clearly not 
transparent and make available little, if any, public 
information on their business practices.  Thus Norway can be 
rewarding companies which may perpetrate egregious human 
rights violations, while punishing transparent enterprises 
which follow open corporate disclosure guidelines.  End 
Comment). 
 
¶13.  (C)  Kjaer explained that although the Fund hopes to 
influence board of director votes, the fact that the Fund's 
regulations bar holding a majority stake in one company means 
that the Norwegians often seek to rally other investors to 
raise issues at corporate annual general meetings.  He and 
other European pension fund leaders recently met with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman to discuss ways 
the funds could gain greater influence in appointing 
directors to a board.  Kjaer summed up his strategy as 
engaging companies, building alliances with fellow investors, 
and persuading them that following the Norwegian plan of 
ethical investing makes sense in increasing long-term 
returns.  Kjaer noted that the Fund also recognizes that 
lobbying is crucial. (Comment: Despite this presentation, we 
have seen the Fund more apt to pull out of companies than use 
shareholder rights to promote change, but believe the GON is 
seriously considering an increased use of shareholder rights 
in the future.  End Comment). 
 
¶14.  (C)  Gro Nystuen, the Chair of the Ethical Council that 
reviews Pension Fund holdings, spoke about the need for 
accountability.  She briefly described the various criteria 
which the Council reviewed when assessing whether an 
investment should not be recommended or divested, including 
the production of certain weapons (contrary to humanitarian 
principles) or a catch-all provision that covers the risk of 
contributing to serious violation of ethical norms.  U.S. 
delisted companies include Walmart and Freeport McMoran 
Mining.  Nystuen supported those exclusions.  When fielding a 
question concerning the Walmart delisting, she claimed that 
the Council based its recommendation on "good and solid" 
information. (Comment: Post has engaged the GON regarding the 
Fund's delisting of U.S. companies, most notably Walmart, 
voicing our concerns that the Ethical Council's review 
process suffers from inadequate procedural protections for 
accused companies.  End Comment). 
 
Foreign Minister Stoere's Concluding Thoughts 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶15.  (U)  The Foreign Minster formally closed the conference, 
praising participants who engaged in a "network of values." 
He stressed the need to increase public and private 
partnerships.  When discussing whether CSR should be part of 
national legislation for every country, he emphasized the 
difficulties of applying state CSR laws extraterritorially. 
He cited the recent case in Norway where a U.S.-owned hotel 
chain, abiding by the Cuba Assets Control Regulations, denied 
rooms to a Cuban delegation.  The event caused a stir (see 
ref C which outlines the fallout over Hilton's decision). 
He stressed that governments have the responsibility to be 
convening powers, supporting meetings such as the conference 
to foster ideas. 
 
Comment:  A Sustainable Smorgasbord? 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶16.  (C)  The conference gathered an impressive array of 
speakers, attempting to increase attention on important 
issues with global implications.  The conference pooled 
substantial resources from various Norwegian ministries.  The 
official conference program noted a GON challenge to 
attendees, asking if the world can "operate as we always 
have, or must humanity think and act in a radically different 
way?"  A lofty goal, but the conference, a smorgasbord of 
disparate ideas, tried to force square pegs into round holes. 
 The conference provided few specifics for going forward, 
while evidencing, amidst successful joint efforts, instances 
of Norwegian tensions between public and private sector 
cooperation.  For example, Stoere stated in his closing that 
climate change problems were "all caused by rich people." 
This type of blanket statement did not further action and did 
not seem to match other more concrete calls for increased 
corporate and public sector partnerships. 
 
¶17.  (C)  Stoere's negativity toward wealth was minor 
compared to the charged statements of Minister Solheim, which 
were often bellicose toward business.  His less-than-subtle 
rhetoric seemed incongruous within the context of the 
conference's professed goals and within the framework of CSR 
itself, which values vibrant private/public partnerships. 
This strain of GON contradiction was amplified throughout the 
conference.  For example, the Pension Fund's delisting of 
Walmart evidences a contradiction, as the government 
professes a need for greater cooperation with the private 
sector while simultaneously divesting from a business, 
 
relying upon dubious research and questionable reasoning.  On 
a minor scale, we note that the sustainability conference 
served up whale meat in one of the luncheons, yet another 
contradiction.  While Post certainly supports efforts to 
raise CSR awareness and tackle pressing global challenges 
which degrade human dignity, the conference, beyond its 
inconsistent discussion of public private cooperation, also 
provided few answers or next steps.  Despite some impressive 
attendees, the conference, like most buffets, left attendees 
wanting more. 
JOHNSON