Norway pension fund ends investment with Caterpillar Inc over Israeli military sales

Norway's largest pension fund, KLP, announced it will no longer invest in the US industrial group Caterpillar Inc due to its sales to the Israeli military, AFP reports.

"For a long time, Caterpillar has supplied bulldozers and other equipment that has been used to demolish Palestinian homes and infrastructure to clear the way for Israeli settlements," Kiran Aziz, head of responsible investments at KLP, said in a statement.

"It has also been alleged that the company's equipment is being used by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in connection with its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7 last year," she added.

KLP said that there is a "risk that the US company may be contributing to human rights abuses and violation of international law in the West Bank and Gaza".

The fund said that since Caterpillar has not provided assurances that it is doing anything on this matter, they have decided to divest from it.

KLP said owned Caterpillar stock valued at 728 million Norwegian crowns ($68.6m) earlier in June, which it has now divested.