Oil and Gas News from OilGasDaily.Com
OIL AND GAS
Climate change contributing to inflation: Norway fund boss
Climate change contributing to inflation: Norway fund boss
By Pierre-Henry DESHAYES
Oslo (AFP) Aug 16, 2023

The head of Norway's mammoth sovereign wealth fund said Wednesday it would be "quite difficult" to bring down global inflation due to persistent upward pressure brought on by climate change and global market trends.

But a positive development in the world is artificial intelligence, which will enable us to concentrate on the "most fun" tasks, Nicolai Tangen, the chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management which manages the fund, said as he addressed current economic trends while presenting the fund's half-yearly report.

Central banks around the world have struggled to rein in inflation despite numerous interest rate hikes since the end of the Covid pandemic.

"We think it could be quite difficult to bring down global inflation," Tangen said.

Manufacturing costs have been rising amid a global push for "nearshoring", where goods are produced closer to their consumers, Tangen said.

In addition to that trend, "the new thing here is the climate effects, that is to say, the link between the climate and inflation," he said, pointing to rising food costs.

"More expensive olive oil, potatoes, beef, all these things and that fuels inflation," he said. "What's new is that (the climate) is also affecting productivity."

Tangen cited a summer "in Europe this year so hot that you can't work in the middle of the day", as well as increasingly extreme weather events that dissuade tourists.

"And then there's nothing going on in the stores... We shut down parts of society during certain periods due to the climate," he said.

July 2023, marked by heatwaves and fires around the world, was the hottest month ever registered on Earth, according to the EU's climate observatory Copernicus.

- Three-day week? -

Tangen was presenting half-year results for the Government Pension Fund Global, the world's largest and valued at 15.3 trillion kroner ($1.46 trillion) at the end of June.

The fund, paradoxically fuelled by the Norwegian state's oil and gas revenues, has made climate change one of its main priorities, making demands on the companies in which it invests.

The fund invests primarily in stocks but also in bonds and real estate around the world.

With shares in more than 9,000 companies, the fund controls around 1.5 percent of the world's market capitalisation.

It earned 1.5 billion kroner ($143 billion) in the first half of the year, boosted by the strong financial market, in particular tech stocks with investors buoyed by developments in artificial intelligence.

The sector alone contributed 788 billion kroner to the fund's results, thanks to companies like Apple, which accounted for 135 billion kroner, Microsoft (114 billion kroner) and Nvidia (84 billion kroner).

Artificial intelligence "will change everything", Tangen said.

"We'll become much more efficient, we won't have to do lots of boring tasks and we'll be able to concentrate on the ones that are most fun."

"And maybe we won't need to work as much? Why work five days (a week)? ... Maybe we'll be able to work three days?", he said, extolling the virtues of picking berries in the mountains on a Friday.

The Norwegian fund on Wednesday published a document urging companies to make the most of the opportunities presented by AI in a responsible manner.

Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
OIL AND GAS
Kenya's debt rises to historic high: treasury
Nairobi (AFP) Aug 16, 2023
Kenya's debt level has reached record highs despite President William Ruto's vow to tame the country's appetite for loans, treasury figures show. Total public debt rose by a record 1.56 trillion shillings ($10.8 billion) in the financial year ended June 30 to 10.1 trillion shillings ($70.75 billion), breaching a debt ceiling of 10 trillion shillings, according to the data released Tuesday. "The increase in the public debt is attributed to external loan disbursements, exchange rate fluctuations ... read more

OIL AND GAS
Transforming flies into degradable plastics

Illinois research leading to cleaner propane production method

Missouri residents to get natural gas from landfill emissions

New process coverts CO2 into fuel more efficiently than photosynthesis

OIL AND GAS
To improve solar and other clean energy tech, look beyond hardware

US accuses Chinese companies of evading solar panel tariffs

Highly efficient organometal halide perovskite photoelectrodes for water splitting

U.S. announces tax credits for clean energy programs in underserved communities

OIL AND GAS
DLR opens wind energy research farm in Krummendeich

U.S. identifies three new areas for potential offshore wind energy development

Biden to visit Philly Shipyard to announce construction of offshore wind vessel

New transmission line to carry wind energy electricity from Wyoming to Nevada

OIL AND GAS
Sweden to clear obstacles for new nuclear reactors

Ukraine nuclear plants fully operational for winter: operator

No explosives found on Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant roofs: IAEA

Niger coup raises questions about uranium dependence

OIL AND GAS
Biden fights for political gain a year after ambitious climate law

Montana court rules for young people in landmark US climate trial

Massive North Atlantic cooling event disrupted early human occupation in Europe

NASA study reveals compounding climate risks at two degrees of warming

OIL AND GAS
Vietnam's VinFast targets US electric car market

New York drives towards first US congestion charge

London mayor unveils new support over road pollution charge

Uber reports surprise profit in Q2

OIL AND GAS
Iraq court annuls death sentence in academic's murder

Danish aid group attacked in Basra; Iraqis keep up Koran protests, Sweden moves embassy

Iraq expels Sweden envoy as Koran stomped in Stockholm

Iraqi PM visits Syria to bolster ties

OIL AND GAS
Kim calls for North Korea to boost missile production: KCNA

US, South Korea to kick off major joint military exercise next week amid NKorea threats

Prisoner deal heralds Iran-US thaw, but no nuclear deal seen

Kim Jong Un fires top military brass, orders troops to prepare for 'offensive' war

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.