Canadian energy companies denied funding because they aren't green enough

The Norwegian central bank has left out four Canadian oil and gas companies from its $1 trillion wealth fund due to producing too much greenhouse gas emissions, its first use of carbon emissions as a requisite to blacklist firms, according to Global News.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, Cenovus Energy Inc, Suncor Energy Inc, and Imperial Oil Ltd were excluded due to "unacceptable greenhouse gas emissions," Norges Bank said in a statement.

The decision was recommended by the Council of Ethics, the fund's ethics watchdog, because of the companies' emission from production of oil to oil sands, the central bank said.

Carbon emissions became a requisite for exclusion from the fund four years ago, and inn 2017 the Council of Ethics recommended "a small handful" of firms be left out for producing their greenhouse gas emissions.

Norges Bank also left out three other companies—Egypt's ElSewedy Electrics Co, Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA, and Brazilian power holding Eletrobras—for creating environmental damage.

Vale declined to comment, and the four Canadian firms did not respond for comment after market hours. Eletrobras and ElSewedy was not immediately reached.

The central bank said it took a substantial amount of time to sell shares of several of the blacklisted companies in a reasonable manner because of the "market situation, including liquidating in individual shares."

The fund—formally referred to the Government Pension Fund Global and set up in the late 1990's to save petroleum revenues for future generations—has expanded to almost three times Norway's annual gross domestic product, exceeding original projections.