The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to introduce a new practice of transparency regarding committee members’ external appointments, financial interests and gifts received. We will also present the existing ethical guidelines. 

For some time, the Nobel Committee has been working on finding ways to show greater openness concerning appointments and financial interests. We will therefore publish this information annually, following the Committee’s first ordinary meeting, once the details have been formally reported. 

The work of the Nobel Committee rests on continuity, thoroughness and respect for history. We must therefore undertake careful consideration before adjusting traditions that have accompanied the committee for 125 years. At the same time, we live in an era in which expectations of transparency and openness are greater than ever. As society evolves, it is natural that we also review our own practices in light of new requirements and expectations. 

Since 2014, the committee has had its own ethical framework addressing conflicts of interest, confidentiality, as well as gifts, travel and bribery. The framework has been updated several times, most recently in February 2025 (PDF, 180KB). We are now reviewing the guidelines and reporting procedures once again, and we are receiving legal advice in our efforts to strengthen these arrangements further. 

The Nobel Committee believes that increased transparency regarding appointments, financial interests and gifts received will help clarify the committee’s independence and integrity. From this year onwards, we will therefore publish a consolidated overview of members’ appointments, financial interests and gifts received. This information will be made public annually after the committee’s first meeting, which normally takes place in the second half of February. 

The Nobel Committee cannot publish corresponding information retrospectively. This is a consequence of the 50-year rule of confidentiality surrounding the work of the Nobel Committee, as set out in the fundamental statutes administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm. In a number of the relevant documents, we have observed that reporting information cannot easily be separated from prize-related material, which is subject to confidentiality. We are also obliged to safeguard the privacy of former committee members. These parameters are fundamental to the committee’s mandate and its independence. 

It is also important to emphasise that the Norwegian Nobel Committee has a particular legal status. The committee is appointed by the Storting (the Norwegian Parliament), but is an independent body affiliated with a private foundation, and is therefore not subject to the Freedom of Information Act in the same way as public administrative bodies. In introducing this new transparency practice, we are not doing so as a result of a statutory duty of disclosure, but because the committee itself considers strengthened transparency to be appropriate. 

The Norwegian Nobel Committee will, of course, assist the relevant authorities, including Økokrim (the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime), in ongoing and any future investigations, within the legal and institutional framework to which we are subject. The aim is to ensure that trust in the work of the Nobel Committee remains strong, and that we reconcile our historical tradition with modern standards of transparency and accountability. 

We have also initiated our own review of our document archives in order to obtain a detailed overview of how ethical issues have been handled, not only through formal rules and self-reporting, but also in specific cases.