Norway wealth fund to push firms to have net-zero targets, government says

Norway's $1.3 trillion wealth fund, the world's largest, should push the 9,300 companies it invests in to adopt net-zero carbon emissions targets, the finance ministry proposed on Friday, in another example of a top investor adapting to climate change.

The move comes after a government-appointed commission said in August the fund should push firms it holds stakes in to eventually cut their greenhouse gas emissions to nil by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. The fund will also stress-test its portfolio, including in a scenario where global temperatures rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius, the ministry said in its annual recommendation to parliament.

The goal of the Paris accord was to limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. "The government wants to make the (fund) world-leading in responsible investment and the management of climate and nature risks," Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said in a statement.