Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is divesting from coal and oil.

The country’s Government Pension Fund Global must offload billions in stock after Norway's parliament approved tighter investment rules.

The fund was already prevented from investing in companies that derive more than 30 per cent of revenue from coal, and now cannot invest in companies that mine more than 20 million tonnes of coal annually or generate more than 10 gigawatts of power from coal.

The fund holds stakes in commodities giant Glencore, as well as investments in Australian companies BHP, South32 and AGL Energy.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund will also offload some stakes in oil and gas explorers and producers, but retain shares of integrated energy companies like Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil.

The fund was set up specifically to push petroleum revenues from the nation’s North Sea oil fields into welfare and other social spending.

It has grown to the point that oil and gas companies now represent just 5.9 per cent of its equity investments, with stakes in more than 9,000 companies worldwide.

The Government of Norway is also the majority shareholder in Equinor – the company looking to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight.