Moroccan Sahara and New Zealand High Court ruling
Recent High Court of Justice decision is another victory for the southern Moroccan provinces, writes Dr Aymeric Chauprade.
02 Apr 2021
On 15 March, the New Zealand High Court of Justice issued its decision following legal action initiated last year by two members of the Polisario separatist movement.
Polisario s target was the New Zealand Superannuation Fund (NZSF), a sovereign wealth fund which is a kind of pension fund and which has invested in recent years in fertiliser production activities using phosphate from the Moroccan Sahara.
More than 40 years ago, New Zealand - a great agricultural power - developed a commercial relationship with Morocco, known worldwide for its production of phosphate-based fertilisers.
Matt Whineray says the fund’s carbon exclusion policy has added returns.
As the government moves to require the disclosure of climate-related financial risks, the New Zealand Super Fund has jumped the gun with the release of its first report on how it manages and assesses those portfolio risks.
The fund, which manages $47 billion worth of assets, has prepared the report in accordance with the taskforce on climate-related financial disclosures, the same regime the government will impose if it is re-elected on October 17.
Fund chief executive Matt Whineray said because the fund operated with a long-term horizon it had to factor in the impacts of climate change on the markets it
Map of Saudi Arabia. Source: Getty We would be appalled if Kiwi Wealth were in any way contributing to human rights violations through their activities, Amnesty NZ s campaigns director Lisa Woods told 1 NEWS. It would be repulsive for any company.
Kiwi Wealth, the KiwiSaver scheme distributed by Kiwibank, is reconsidering its decision to continue its investment in Raytheon Technologies, which has supplied munitions to Saudi Arabia while it fuels a humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
Your playlist will load after this ad James Shaw and Marama Davidson will be divesting from Kiwi Wealth, the fund distributed by Kiwibank, after it said it will keep investing in Raytheon Technologies.
A branch of Israel’s Bank Leumi. Photo: Reuters / Nir Elias / File.
New Zealand’s sovereign wealth fund divested from five Israeli banks on Wednesday, citing their alleged funding of Israeli settlements in the West Bank as the reason, and drawing sharp criticism for focusing on the Jewish state while ignoring the world’s major abusers of human rights.
In a statement, The Guardians Board of New Zealand Super Fund (NZSF) which manages assets in excess of $36 billion (US) said they had “excluded five Israeli banks on responsible investment grounds.”
“There is credible evidence that the excluded companies provide project finance for the construction of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which is an integral aspect of settlement construction,” the statement asserted. “We believe that without the banks’ involvement the settlement activity would not be proceeding at the scale seen in recent times.”