On December 14, 2023, Storebrand Asset Management CEO Jan Erik Saugestad participated in a panel discussion about responsible business conduct organized by Norway’s National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines. The panel, which was part of the OECD national contact point’s annual conference, focused on driving responsible business conduct amid the many crises and conflicts that the world is currently experiencing.
Saugestad was joined by Eivind Vad Petersson, deputy minister for foreign affairs; Knut Kjær, former CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management and professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU); and representatives from DNB and NHO (the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprises).
The discussion focused on many issues, ranging from net-zero goals and the role of geopolitics in business, to nature preservation and indigenous communities. Saugestad’s remarks emphasized the need to protect nature in our battle against climate change, as well as how indigenous communities should be more respected as the best stewards of nature. He also reiterated that there was no adequate scientific basis to justify deep sea mining as a necessary component of green transition.
On the social side of ESG, Saugestad underlined that important dilemmas like establishing decent working conditions or living wages should not be pushed to the backburner for the sake of solving environmental challenges. Both are vital inputs for smoothly running well-off societies.
Most significantly, Saugestad also emphasized that respect for human rights should be at the centre of investors’ evaluation of their portfolio companies. Contrary to mainstream thinking, Saugestad argues, respect for human rights, in the context of conflict areas, is not a political question but a question of respecting international law. Respecting international humanitarian law makes up the baseline requirement of international legal order, and it is an important part of doing business that investors should not shy away from.
The rest of the conference focused on the latest OECD guidelines on responsible business conduct, updated in June 2023, its application and oversight by various stakeholders, as well as just transition.