Barclays accused of bankrolling oil giants despite climate pledge

Shareholders have tabled a resolution demanding that Barclays phase out its financing for coal, oil and gas companies

Lucy Burton 4 April 2021 • 8:30pm

Extinction Rebellion stage a protest in Glasgow against the role of banks in the climate crisis Credit: PA

Activists have accused Barclays of bankrolling multibillion-pound deals that expanded the fossil fuel industry last year despite the bank vowing to act on climate change.

The UK bank last year participated in deals that arranged $97.6bn (£70.6bn) of loans and bonds for eight of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, BP, Chevron, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Repsol, Shell and Total, despite promising to shrink its carbon footprint to net zero by 2050, according to climate campaigners Market Forces.

The figures come as shareholders pile pressure on to the bank over its climate change policies for the second year in a row as it remains one of Europe’s largest backers of fossil fuels.

Rev Canon Dr John Hall, who is among the 100 investors backing a resolution demanding that Barclays phase out its financing for coal, oil and gas companies, said last week that “the house is on fire but the financial institutions backing the fossil fuel industry are acting like arsonists”.

Adam McGibbon, a UK campaigner for Market Forces who carried out the latest research, said the bank is not breaking its climate change policies by financing these deals “it’s just the policies are so inadequate”.

“Barclays can say it’s aligned with the Paris Agreement, or it can fund a massive expansion of the fossil fuel industry – it can’t do both,” he said.

The campaign group has already tabled a resolution to be presented at the bank’s annual meeting in May, urging Barclays to detail clearer plans on how it intends to phase out fossil fuel financing amid concerns little has changed since the bank was confronted with a landmark resolution from a group of investors a year ago.

The world’s biggest banks have come under mounting pressure to phase out the financing of dirty energy sources, with investor concerns coming up in board meetings and Extinction Rebellion staging protests.

Earlier this month HSBC dodged a backlash from major investors by pledging to phase out financing of coal-fired power by 2040.

However, some large financial companies have been accused of “green washing” since pledging to act on climate change.

In January a group of researchers argued that BlackRock’s pledge to act on climate change did not cover the investment giant’s passive investments, which account for around two thirds of its assets under management.

Last week Extinction Rebellion activists posed as dead bodies outside two Barclays branches in Scotland and splashed black dye over the Bank of England.

A spokesman for Barclays said: “We have made a commitment to align our entire financing portfolio to the goals of the Paris Agreement, with specific targets and transparent reporting, on the way to achieving our ambition to be a net zero bank by 2050.

“We believe that Barclays can make a real contribution to tackling climate change and help accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.

We continue to discuss our ambition and progress with our investors.”