Article

Climate dialogue: Why has Sweden's largest pension fund invested in Saudi Aramco oil?

Image of We Don't Have Time
We Don't Have Time

137 w

•

When a Climate Review is trending on We Don't Have Time, we always seek to get a response from the recipient and establish a Climate Dialogue. What started as a Climate Warning ⚠️ to state-managed pension fund AP7 for its investment in Saudi Aramco Oil, has now resulted in an in-depth interview with Johan Florén, Chief ESG, at AP7.



AP7 argues, with reference to this study, that it wouldn't make a difference if it sold its shares in fossil fuel companies. Why? Because AP7 is not buying these shares directly from the companies, but on a secondary market, meaning that if AP7 were to sell its shares, another investor would step in to purchase them. The better way, argues AP7, is to be an active owner and use that influence to push for change. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXZS6K7p5Cc

This is a short version of the interview. The full 1-hour interview will be published on wedonthavetime.org/play on February 5th.

But AP7 has also blacklisted 36 coal companies for failing to make climate progress. This is confusing to us. If active ownership is the only way to influence companies, then what's the point with blacklisting? And why, then, should a fossil fuel company care if an investor put it on a blacklist?
We Don't Have Time believes that scale is what matters. Action by just a few investors might not make a difference, but if money starts moving on a massive scale, change will happen.
According to a IEA, clean energy investment must reach $4,5 trillion per year by 2030 to keep the heating of our planet within safe limits. But still, too much money is moving the other way. Pension funds and other institutional investors have invested $3 trillion in oil, coal and gas.
$3 trillion is roughly 3 percent of all the money in the world. Does anyone truly believe that it wouldn't affect companies' stockmarket value if pension funds sold their shares in fossil fuels and invest this money in green companies to help them instead?
AP7 has so far put a lot of its resources into influencing coal companies. But as you will hear in the interview, the pension fund will now start zooming in more on oil. That's encourging news, and we hope it will make a difference!
What is your view on AP7:s investment strategy? Give your opinion in the comment section.

    Follow us

    Our Platform

    What is a climate review

    Events and broadcasts

    I want to help out

    Terms of use

    About us

    Our cause

    Our organization

    Press & media

    Sustainability

    Investor relations

    Partners

    For businesses and organizations

    Become a partner

    © 2026 We Don't Have Time – All rights reserved.

    We Don’t Have Time is the world’s largest media platform for climate action – with a mission to democratize knowledge about climate solutions and inspire and mobilize global action toward a prosperous, fossil-free future. The content of the We Don't Have Time social network is user-generated. The We Don’t Have Time organization does not automatically endorse users’ opinions and claims. All users of We Don’t Have Time have subscribed to We Don’t Have Time’s Terms of Use, which, among other things, prohibits hateful, abusive, and violent content. If you discover content that violates our Terms of Use, please notify us immediately. The platform is operated by the company WeDontHaveTime AB (publ), whose majority shareholder is the WeDontHaveTime Foundation. The Foundation’s principal purpose is to contribute to a reduced climate impact and an ecologically sustainable environment. Our headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden.

    Please read our Privacy Policy and our Cookie Policy.