Norway’s minority government on Friday said its sovereign wealth fund should be allowed to exclude from investment companies that damage the global climate, and appointed an expert group to assess whether the fund should be allowed next year to start buying unlisted infrastructure.

The $885 billion fund - one of the world's largest investors, holding on average 1.3% of every listed global company - shouldn't immediately exit its fossil fuel-exposed holdings such as coal assets, the government said. Instead, it should use the threat of exclusion as a tool to pressure companies to change their climate strategies, it said.