Churches and religious charities ditch Barclays over fossil fuel ties

A number of churches and religious charities are ditching Barclays over is fossil fuel links.

Climate Christian Action, a community of religious organisations, said Sheffield Cathedral, the Community of Christ and Greenbelt Festival have announced their intention to move away from the bank, having been clients for more than 65 years combined.

Barclays has come under fire in recent years for investing in oil and gas companies.

The groups said this financing is misaligned with their own missions to reduce emissions and help to tackle the climate crisis.

The Community of Christ and Greenbelt Festival are moving to the Co-Operative bank.

The groups join Christian Aid, one of the largest aid groups in the UK, which announced its move away from Barclays earlier this year.

It was reported over the weekend that Barclays is in danger of losing its position as the bank of Cambridge University after more than 200 years amid pressure from students and staff.

A spokesperson said: “The University of Cambridge is exploring opportunities to find financial products that do not finance fossil fuel expansion, particularly those which invest in new coal and gas-fired power plants that lock in customer demand for decades.

“This is part of the university’s net zero engagement strategy with the banking sector and is intended to challenge all financial institutions to stop investing in the expansion of fossil fuels.”

In the summer, celebrities and campaigners also criticised the bank for “sportswashing” over its sponsorship deal with Wimbledon.

Campaigners have called on the bank to publish a policy to stop extending all types of financing – loans and underwriting – to oil and gas clients still exploring and developing new fossil fuel projects.

Derek Hill, managing director of Greenbelt Festival, said: “Over that time, we have grown increasingly uneasy about banking with Barclays, especially as we have become more and more committed to doing all that we can to be a climate-responsible organisation and to being as sustainable as we can be.

“We recognise that Barclays’ record on taking climate change seriously is very poor indeed.

“But sooner or later, you have to act and put your money where your mouth is. But we’re really pleased that the work is finally done, and we’ve given Barclays the boot.”

Andrew Fox, financial officer at the Community of Christ, said: “Community of Christ has banked with Barclays for over 40 years.

“However, more recently members have expressed concerns about the church banking with a bank that rates so poorly in relation to its ethical investments and have requested that we find a more ethical way to bank.

“The church’s finance committee has been exploring which banks invest in a way that meets the requirements of the Community of Christ ethical investment policy and plan to move from Barclays to a more ethical option in the near future.”

Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, says: “The recent Cop (28) discussions have underlined the need to keep up pressure on all our institutions to take appropriate action towards a sustainable future for our world.

“The policies of our major banks play a crucial role in this, and I welcome any step that reinforces for them the urgent imperative of radical rethinking around fossil fuel investment.”

A Barclays spokesperson said: “Barclays has reduced its financed emissions of the Energy sector by 32% since 2020, which exceeds our 2025 target.

“We are committed to financing the energy transition, investing in the climate technologies required to build low-carbon capacity as we support those clients investing to achieve net zero.

“In addition to the £99bn of green and sustainable finance provided since 2018, we are investing £500m of our own capital into climate-tech start-ups by the end of 2027. It is our privilege to bank and support our clients including universities and religious groups.”