Tag: Barclays

No less than 115 investment companies and asset managers have signed the letter – together they represent $4.2 trillion of assets. They’ve targeted banks across Europe, North America and Asia, including HSBC, Barclays, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Royal Bank of Canada, and MUFG.

We know that UK banks and asset managers like Barclays and HSBC are fuelling the climate crisis by financing polluting companies. Now new analysis exposes just how much the finance sector is in for.

The votes are in: nearly a quarter of Barclays shareholders defied bank executives over their climate policies at yesterday’s annual meeting.

Barclays chair Nigel Higgins had asked shareholders to vote against a resolution that would commit the bank to phasing out funding for fossil fuels.

Barclays’ annual general meeting is on the horizon, giving shareholders and investors the chance to push the bank towards defunding fossil fuels. The question is: will they seize this opportunity, even though Barclays has told them to vote against?

This morning activists gathered outside Blackrock. BlackRock is the world’s biggest asset manager, with more than USD $9 trillion in assets under management. It’s also the world’s top investor in climate destruction.

UK banks are still funnelling billions into fossil fuels according to new research, while Barclays and HSBC remain among the worst in the world.

The latest Banking on Climate Chaos report reveals that 60 banks have provided $3.8 trillion to the fossil fuel industry in the last five years.

Almost 80% of directors on the boards of the UK’s big five banks have connections to polluting industries, a new analysis has found.[1] The figures suggest such ‘climate-conflicted’ directors could represent a systemic obstacle to progressive climate action, as shareholders prepare to meet to consider a range of progressive environmental resolutions at the banks’ AGMs.

Most banks are still heavily invested in the fossil fuel industry and show few signs of getting out completely. So if they won’t clean up their act, it’s time for all of us to detox our bank accounts.

There are many ways to complain about your bank’s role in financing fossil fuels and join the millions demanding an end to bankrolling the climate crisis. But if you feel you’ve exhausted all the options, moving your account to a more responsible bank can make a big statement.

Whether you’re emailing your bank or talking to staff working in the branches, it helps to have a few good points lined up to make a solid argument.

Furious that Barclays and HSBC are still investing in fossil fuels, but haven’t got much time to spare? Don’t worry – in just ten minutes, you can take on the banks which are pumping billions into oil, gas and coal companies.

In recent weeks, stickers have been plastered on Barclays branches across the UK, drawing attention to how the bank is continuing to fund the climate crisis.
 

The stickers – catching the eye with Barclays’ signature blue colour scheme – appeared on every branch in London, as well as several in Bristol and on a number of standalone cash machines.

Another day, another ‘climate announcement’ by a major bank. 

This week, Barclays has announced how it intends to reach ‘net-zero’ by 2050.

It’s been revealed that between January and September of this year, Barclays increased its financing of key fossil fuel players compared to the same period last year in spite of a commitment by the bank to align its business with climate goals.

Sheffield,
Inverness,
Rochdale,
Bath,
Bristol,
Exeter,
Worthing,
Hertford,
Newbury,
Cardiff,
Manchester,
the flagship Piccadilly Circus branch in London,
Balham,
Clapham Junction,
Kendal,
St.

The whole idea of ‘net-zero’ has rocketed into the mainstream lately, and for good reason if we’re to have any chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. The devastating giga-fires and red skies across California cast a sense of foreboding that climate impacts will only worsen if we don’t act now.

A mock football match staged outside Barclays’ flagship Piccadilly Circus branch has turned the floodlights on the bank’s cynical exploitation of the beautiful game.

Barclays proudly boasts of its status as Official Banking Partner of the Premier League and sponsorship of the FA Women’s Super League.

Over the last few weeks Barclays have come under increasing pressure as protests have intensified. From Kendal to Bristol, Glasgow to St Albans, Barclays have come under fire for the financing of fossil fuels across the country.