Barclays just had their 2023 AGM and the big topic on the agenda was Barclays’ current position as the biggest funder of fossil fuels of any bank in Europe.
What happened at the Barclays AGM?
Disruptions started less than one minute in. As the chairman of Barclays was beginning his speech, dozens of people inside the AGM stood up and began singing over him with a cover of a Spice Girls song. They did this to bring attention to the fact that since 2016, no European bank has lent more money to the fossil fuel industry than Barclays:
HAPPENING NOW: I’m at @Barclays AGM where a choir has disrupted the meeting with a rendition of ‘Stop’ by the Spice Girls 🎶 “Hey you! Burning up the earth gotta stop it now baby, we have had enough…” #BarclaysAGMchaos pic.twitter.com/tDTI4HH5hs
— Mia Watanabe (@MiaHWatanabe) May 3, 2023
After the choir were escorted out of the AGM, further disruptions happened as people stood up in groups and asked Barclays to stop pouring cash into the climate crisis.
The AGM continued, with 90% of questions being asked of the board relating to the climate crisis, and the role Barclays are playing in it.
The shareholder who had invited Barclays to meet w Sir David King is not impressed by the response “I feel like I’m in a parallel universe, This isn’t real, what is real is record breaking temperatures. (…) I dont know if your privilege will protect you. People are desperate” pic.twitter.com/3CRhzAJI4T
— Jeanne Martin (@JeanneMartin25) May 3, 2023
What did Barclays have to say?
Nigel Higgins, chair of the board, kept repeating two big points to explain the continued funding of fossil fuels:
1) That Barclays are financing fossil fuels to play a role in transitioning the UK economy to a green future and
2) It can’t just be Barclays changing, the banking rules need to change to incentivise the whole system.
Whilst these are good arguments in theory, the evidence shows that these aren’t the whole truth.
Barclays is a major bankroller of fossil fuel giants like Shell, who are actively fighting against green policies and rule changes from the government. This means Barclays is sponsoring work to undo the green transition, not build it. And on point 2, Barclays are right, the whole system needs to change, but Barclays is a member of major lobbying groups like the US Chamber of Commerce, which is also trying to stop systemic sustainable policies.
Barclays couldn’t answer to the fact that they remain one of the banks with the worst policies for restricting oil and gas financing:
Turning to oil & gas:
“I know that not everyone agrees but the state of energy provision today & energy security means we cannot simply abandon this sector”
Euhm @Barclays has one of the weakest oil & gas policies – surely there’s more it can do!?😳https://t.co/bolVYhD8eU pic.twitter.com/EcIKLHGqsG
— Jeanne Martin (@JeanneMartin25) May 3, 2023
What now?
The science couldn’t be clearer, the International Energy Agency says there can be no new oil and gas extraction to give us a 50% chance of avoiding the very worst of the climate crisis. Barclays are running out of excuses for being the biggest fossil fuel funder in Europe since 2016 and their AGM showed it.
For more information, check out Jeanne Martin of ShareAction’s Live Feed: https://twitter.com/JeanneMartin25/status/1653702135190626305
