KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund, has divested its stake of nearly $70 million in US industrial group Caterpillar due to the risk of its equipment being used by Israel to violate human rights in Gaza and the West Bank.
In a statement Wednesday, Oslo-based KLP said Caterpillar’s bulldozers and other heavy machinery could be contributing to human rights abuses and violations of international law in the Palestinian territories.
The Norwegian pension manager said that before June 17, KLP and the funds it manages owned shares and bonds in the company worth 728 million kroner ($68.07 million).
KLP, which has more than $70 billion in assets under management, has previously said that Caterpillar has supplied bulldozers, such as the D9 series, and other equipment that has been used to demolish Palestinian homes and infrastructure to clear the way for Israeli settlements.
“It has also been alleged that the company’s equipment is being used by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) in connection with its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 last year,” Kiran Aziz, head of responsible investments at KLP, Norway's largest pension fund, said in the statement.
“Since the company cannot provide us with assurances that it is doing anything in this regard, we have decided to exclude the company from investment,” Aziz said.
KLP said it was in dialogue with Texas-based Caterpillar for several months about the risk that it was contributing to human rights abuses and violations of international law.
The Norwegian firm said that KLP voted at Caterpillar’s annual general meetings in 2022 and 2023 in favor of requiring the company to report risks relating to operations in areas of conflict.
“In its replies to KLP, however, the company has not addressed such risks. Caterpillar has been made aware of how the Israeli Defense Force is using its equipment,” Aziz said, adding that despite the deteriorating situation in Gaza, it had not moved to reduce the risk of being associated with human rights abuses. Caterpillar does not directly sell its equipment to the IDF.
Al-Monitor has contacted Caterpillar for comment.
Last week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement on arms transfers to Israel in which several companies were mentioned, including Caterpillar. “These companies, by sending weapons, parts, components and ammunition to Israeli forces, risk being complicit in serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian laws,” the body said. Companies also accused by the UN of supplying Israel with military equipment included BAE Systems, Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Oshkosh, Rheinmetall AG, Rolls-Royce Power Systems, RTX and ThyssenKrupp.
More than 38,000 people have been killed in Israel's military operation in Gaza, which began after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 last year, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.
