The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which manages $1tn (£770bn) of Norway’s assets, is to dump investments in firms that explore for oil and gas, but will still hold stakes in firms such as BP and Shell that have renewable energy divisions.

The Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), whose assets exceed those of rival sovereign wealth funds such as China’s, said it would phase out oil exploration from its “investment universe”.

Tom Sanzillo, director of finance for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said: “These are very important statements from a big fund. They’re doing it because fossil fuel stocks are not producing the value that they have historically.

“It’s also a warning to the integrated oil companies that investors are looking at them to move the economy forward to renewable energy.”

He said GPFG’s investment strategy also “underscores that the fracking business model is unsustainable”.

Source: Norway’s $1tn wealth fund to divest from oil and gas exploration | World news | The Guardian