What to do with 1.7 trillion euros?
Norway's sovereign wealth fund should invest more money in combating the climate crisis and promoting health, while accepting lower profits, according to a randomly selected Future Panel. Its findings were presented to the public on 13 May 2025.
From January to April 2025, 56 randomly selected Norwegians at the mini-public discussed how Norway's wealth can be used for the benefit of current and future generations.
Specifically, it was about the resources of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund. Founded in 1996, the fund is fuelled by the Norwegian state's income from oil and gas production. It is now worth the equivalent of 1.7 trillion euros. The fund is one of the largest global investors and owns around 1.5 per cent of all listed shares worldwide. However, it also invests in bonds, property and renewable energies. In 2024, the fund made a profit of 213 billion euros.
Investing in sustainable projects
‘A certain percentage of the Oil Fund should be reserved for sustainable investments where we accept higher risks and lower returns in order to promote social and economic development in developing countries,‘ says the Citizens’ Assembly report.
Other recommendations include guidelines for the use of the fund in times of crisis, such as pandemics and wars, as well as new guidelines for the use of the fund in the national budget. Currently, up to three per cent of the fund's value can be used in the budget without specifying what it should be spent on. The Future Panel wants it to be used for ‘fundamental social structures’ such as education, research and innovation and not for ‘administrative expenditure’.
More citizens' assemblies
The fund should also move faster to invest the two per cent of its value that is earmarked for direct investments in renewable energy projects abroad, such as wind and solar parks. So far, only 0.1 per cent of its value has been spent on such investments.
89% of assembly members backed the recommendation, that "citizens’ assemblies should be used more and, if they prove effective, become a permanent part of the parliament's permanent decision-making processes." The members asked politicians to commit to listen to and assess the recommendations from mini-publics so that more people have a "concrete and direct" participation in politics, more diverse voices could be heard and more social groups could give input for decisions.
'Surprised by how my views have changed'
‘The idea was that we are different people from different parts of the country. My experience is that we all have the same basic values,‘ said 17-year-old high school student Lill Synnoeve Ludvigsen, a member of the Citizens’ Assembly, in an interview with the Reuters news agency.
'Taking part in this process has taught me that it helps to talk with people who think differently from me - and that we can find common ground. Personally, I’m surprised by how my views have changed on topics I never thought I’d reconsider,' Bjørnar Hansen, a 63-year-old from the central Norwegian town of Brønnøy, was quoted as saying in the final report.
Hansen was not alone. All citizens signed their report's introduction to say that, 'many of us have experienced this as one of the most meaningful things we have been part of … this has been democracy in practice. A reminder that we are not just citizens - we are also co-creators of the future.'
A reflection of the population
The Future Panel was a reflection of the Norwegian population. It met seven times over the course of four months to acquire the necessary knowledge with the help of experts, discuss important issues and ultimately make recommendations on how Norway should handle its oil wealth and investments in the future for the benefit of future generations. The final recommendations will be submitted to policy makers and presented to the public.
On 13 November 2024, 40,000 residents received an SMS invitation to take part in the Future Panel. From the 3,785 people who expressed an interest in participating, the members of the mini-public were randomly selected. The participants were drawn on the basis of five criteria: Age, gender, place of residence, education and political affiliation.
Age distribution from 16 to 83
The age distribution ranged from 16 to 83 years, and the participants have educational qualifications from primary school to higher education. In addition, the composition of the panel reflected the turnout of Norwegians in the 2021 parliamentary elections and roughly corresponded to the nationwide distribution of voters.
On the digital platform Aula, anyone who wanted to can make suggestions to the members of the Future Panel and also read the contributions of others.
Question formulated by civil society
The question that was answered by the mini-public was posed by seven civil society organisations : Save the Children, Norwegian Church Aid, the National Council for Norwegian Children and Youth Organisations LNU, Caritas, WWF World Wildlife Fund, Langsikt - the think tank for long-term policy - and Future in Our Hands.
In terms of content, the main focus was on
- which considerations and values should guide the state in its decisions
- which problems in the world Norway has particularly good reasons to contribute to solving
- how the sovereign wealth fund should be used now and in the future
‘With the Future Panel, we want to initiate a national debate on how Norway can contribute to a better future for current and future generations in the face of the world's common challenges. We hope that politicians across party lines will listen to the Citizens‘ Assembly's recommendations,’ said Eirik Mofoss, CEO of Langsikt, at the start of the mini-public.
Funding from international partners
The project was funded by several national and international partners, including the European Climate Foundation, Sunrise Project, Ragnhild and Jens Ulltveit-Moe and Værkraft Fonden. The budget for the planning, realisation and follow-up of the Future Panel amounted to approximately 3.8 million Norwegian kroner (approx. 324,000 euros).
The mini-public followed the OECD principles for citizen participation, and the process was designed to ensure broad legitimacy and a balanced, independent dialogue.
Process organised by secretariat
A secretariat, managed by the non-profit organisation SoCentral in cooperation with We Do Democracy, organised the entire process from the recruitment of participants to the facilitation of the meetings. It ensured that the Citizens' Assembly had access to neutral and relevant information so that participants could make good and informed decisions. The secretariat was also responsible for ensuring that the process is conducted independently and impartially.