Global asset managers pour 6.5 trillion into fossil fuels despite climate pledges

Global asset managers and sovereign wealth funds have poured $6.5 trillion into coal, oil, and gas projects, extending financing well beyond 2050 despite international climate commitments, according to three major reports published today. The findings, released by *taz*, *Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung*, and *Der Standard*, reveal that Europe’s largest sovereign wealth fund—the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global—leads the ranking of institutional investors still bankrolling fossil fuel expansion.

The Norwegian fund, valued at over $1.4 trillion, remains the single largest institutional backer of fossil fuel companies, with holdings in ExxonMobil, Shell, and Saudi Aramco . The fund’s 2025 annual report, published in March, confirmed continued investments in 52 oil and gas firms, defying calls from Oslo to align its portfolio with the Paris Agreement. “The fund’s mandate requires financial returns, not climate alignment,” a spokesperson told *taz*, adding that divestment would risk stranded assets and lower returns for Norwegian pensioners.

Major U.S. asset managers—Vanguard, BlackRock, and State Street—have also come under fire for their role in sustaining fossil fuel infrastructure. Together, the “Big Three” hold $1.2 trillion in fossil fuel equities and bonds, according to *FAZ* . Critics argue these investments lock in decades of carbon emissions. “Pension funds and insurers are financing the destruction of the planet,” said a spokesperson for the NGO Reclaim Finance, which tracks fossil fuel financing. “These institutions are betting against the energy transition.”

The revelations coincide with a push by climate-vulnerable nations for a global funding framework to address loss and damage from extreme weather. At a UN climate finance meeting in Geneva last week, representatives from Bangladesh, Malawi, and other low-income countries demanded that wealthy nations and institutional investors redirect trillions toward adaptation and resilience . Bangladesh’s climate envoy told Reuters that the current $300 billion annual target for climate finance falls “woefully short” of needs, calling for scaled-up public and private sector contributions .

Meanwhile, conservation efforts in Africa received a boost as Canada’s Climate Development Fund pledged continued support for Malawi’s Dowa forest conservation initiative, aimed at protecting biodiversity and carbon sinks . The $15 million commitment underscores the uneven progress in balancing fossil fuel financing with climate adaptation funding.

As the G20 prepares for its July summit in Cape Town, pressure is mounting on sovereign wealth funds and asset managers to align their portfolios with net-zero pathways. The Norwegian government has signaled it may revisit the fund’s investment guidelines by 2027, but for now, the $6.5 trillion fossil fuel financing machine continues to operate on borrowed time—and borrowed carbon budgets.