Over the last year, Christian Climate Action have been urging charities and other organisations to drop Barclays bank, due to it being the biggest funder of fossil fuels in Europe since 2016. The campaign has involved holding vigils outside the HQs of charities that bank with Barclays. Since the campaign began, a number of organisations have announced their leaving the bank – for example Christian Aid, Oxfam, Greenbelt Festival and Sheffield Cathedral.

Banks Are Feeling the Pressure

Feeling the pressure, Barclays has said that it has been listening to civil society organisations. Today they have released a new energy policy, which promised:

• No direct financing of new oil and gas projects
• Constraining funding for pureplay companies
• Putting fossil fuel companies “on notice”

But What Does this Mean In Practice?

While this sounds like a big shift for the bank, lets have a look at what these actually mean for Barclays

“No direct financing of new oil and gas projects”
This means Barclays will stop providing billions to new fossil fuel projects like drilling for new oil and gas. It sounds like a big step, but it’s a bit of language trickery because Barclays doesn’t really fund fossil fuel projects. It funds the fossil fuel companies creating the projects.

Cutting out funding for “new fossil fuel projects” affects well less than 10% of the money going to fossil fuels. It doesn’t change the billions Barclays is continuing to funnel into the likes of Shell, Exxon and Total – including their human rights abuses, nature destruction and misinformation campaigns. Barclays are the 17th out of 24 European banks to take this minimal step.

“Constraining funding for pureplay companies”
Pureplay companies are companies that only work in oil and gas, they have no other income streams, so it’s impossible for them to genuinely transition away from oil and gas. The good news is that restrictions on pureplays is a no brainer and Barclays has done it. But it wouldn’t be a Barclays policy without a massive loophole. It’s not an outright ban, Barclays can just decide to fund a pureplay “by exception” if it wants to.

Plus it places absolutely no restrictions pureplays engaged in new projects with a so- called “short lead time”. This helpfully includes one of the most dangerous and poisonous methods of fossil fuel extraction, fracking, for which Barclays is one of the biggest funders in the world.

Putting fossil fuel companies “on notice”
Barclays will put some fossil fuel companies engaged in expansion on notice and put them through an annual review to figure out if they’re transitioning. This is a good thing as it will include Barclays’ biggest fossil fuel clients like Shell, BP and Exxon. However Barclays were sheepish about what the annual review would look like, and what a fossil fuel company would have to do to disqualify it from funding. Given that Shell is axing its green division, Exxon is doubling down on oil and gas expansion and BP are dialing back their weak climate pledges, it would be surprising if they haven’t crossed a red line. However it would also be surprising for Barclays to do the right thing and cut off the world’s most damaging companies.

Info taken from bankonourfuture.org

What Does This Mean for Barclays Record As Europe’s Fossil Fuel Baddie?

Bank on Our Future summarise the new policy by saying: “That means more of Barclays being Europe’s #1 fossil fuel funder since 2016. More billions for drilling in untouched natural habitats. More billions for abusing human rights. And more billions for accelerating floods, droughts, climate refugees and climate breakdown across the world.”

Christian Aid said Barclays remained “laggards on fossil fuel finance” and that other organisations considering dropping the bank should still do so. Senior Advocacy Advisor Ashley Taylor said, “In this case, Barclays are big on rhetoric and low on action, and this announcement should do nothing to persuade those organisations considering ditching the bank, to reconsider.”

Now We’ve got Their Attention, Let’s Push for The Change We Need

There have been some steps forward for the bank, and it is important to celebrate the part we played in making that happen. Christian Climate Action is such a small organisation, but despite this we have played a big role in generating media, meetings and being a general menace for Barclays. However, it is clear that Barclays policy falls woefully short of what it needs to be.

The good news is that we know that the banking sector is listening – yes Barclays, but also HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and more. They are waiting to hear what society will accept and expect from them. So now is the perfect time to make our voices heard and push for the change we need.