Arguably, all of modern capitalism was built on the back of some very dirty and polluting technology. Would you say, then, that the capital of all the developed world is tainted?
Except, in Norway, their pension and economy are STILL getting built on O&G.
I think your claims are too extreme.
edit: adding quote from European Commission data
"Norway is in the global top 5 exporters of crude oil. The oil
and gas sector constitutes around 22% of Norwegian GDP and 67%
of Norwegian exports." [1]
That said, you're not fairly representing the context of my comment. The parent comment made this exaggerated critique, saying that "all of modern capitalism" can be considered tainted based on PRIOR behavior (assuming the grandparent's comment were valid.)
This is not only a strawman, but absurd.
I'm pointing out that it isn't limited to prior behavior for what we're talking about. Here, we have a petro-state with 2/3 of its exports STILL in O&G (aka "dirty technology") taking a stance on coal because coal's not Environment Friendly™. This contrasts with countries that were built on "dirty tech/slavery/whatever" and are no longer utilizing similar means.
To clarify, nobody's saying NOR can't change course or exhibit environmental leadership. I'd argue NOR's investment implications and the $2.3B change in allocation aren't significant.
Not to mention significant amounts of slave labor, child labor, war profiteering, fraud, outright theft, etc.
In other words, by similar logic it could be called “holier-than-thou” for westerners to have any standards whatsoever about investment choices, because our wealth is built on all kinds of unsavory sources.
And you will see the likes of China pull that card whenever there is some kind of international talk about something that will affect their industries.
In other words, by similar logic it could be called “holier-than-thou”
for westerners to have any standards whatsoever about investment choices,
because our wealth is built on all kinds of unsavory sources.
I also find it ironic that "westerner" in your world doesn't seem to include Norwegians ;-).
I recall seeing a documentary about the start of Silicon Valley, where a lot of the early money came from Rockefeller and other "east coast" money. Does that mean that the current tech industry owes a debt to Standard Oil? Probably. Is it relevant? Probably not.
