Reacting to the news that 14% of Barclays shareholders voted for the Market Forces shareholder resolution calling on the bank to phase out funding for fossil fuels (with a further 12% abstaining on Barclays’ management’s recommendation to vote against), Adam McGibbon, UK Campaign Lead at Market Forces, said:

Today’s result is a major concern, as after last year’s strong investor vote for greater climate action, Barclays financed another US$27 billion to fossil fuels in 2020, increased funding for fracking, tar sands and arctic oil by 32% in the same time period, and remains the biggest UK funder of the global coal industry. If Barclays has genuinely climate-concerned investors, shareholder votes for greater climate action should only be increasing.

Barclays’ institutional investors have some serious questions to answer about their commitment to climate change action. Having seen Barclays’ climate policies fail to reign in its investments in fossil fuels in the last year, to have investor support for climate change action drop this year compared to 2020 smacks of either indifference or incompetence from many major investors. 

There is a healthy group of investors who see past Barclays’ greenwash, who will need to work hard over the next year to convince their colleagues to demand stronger climate action from the bank.

Barclays exposure to actions associated with ICC’s investigation into possible Israeli war crimes

Also during yesterday's AGM, BankTrack posed a question about Barclays’ significant financial links to the Israeli government and to companies on the UN’s list of businesses supporting the maintenance and expansion of illegal settlements.

Just last year Barclays was lead underwriter on bond issuances by the Israeli state worth US$ 5 billion. This underwriting includes no restrictions on the use of funds, meaning that Barclays is likely exposed to all actions associated with the International Criminal Court’s investigation into possible war crimes. These actions have included settlement construction, systematic land confiscation and house demolitions of Palestinians, universally condemned by NGOs, UN bodies, the EU, the UK and more.

After Barclays avoided addressing the issues in correspondence last year, BankTrack posed the following question during the AGM:

"How does Barclays plan to make sure it is not linked or contributing via its finance to the maintenance of illegal settlements, or to war crimes and the crime of apartheid as set out in international law? Will the bank commit to setting out its approach to meeting its human rights responsibilities in relation to its finance for Israel and for companies on the UN list?"

The response from Barclays' Chair Nigel Higgins was insubstantial, pointing towards the bank's human rights policy, bit without taking any steps to show how the bank is meeting the policy and its commitments to rectify human rights violations when it is made aware of them. 

Notes:

• For questions about Barclays' links to illegal settlements, contact Ryan Brightwell at ryan@banktrack.org
• For more information about the Market Forces resolution, contact Adam McGibbon at adam.mcgibbon@marketforces.org.uk or
• Adam’s speech during the AGM in favour of the resolution is available here.
• The details of the resolution, including text and supporting statement, are here. Investor briefing is here. The resolution was coordinated by Market Forces and 100+ individual investors, including a former Vice President of Bank of America, a Church of England vicar and two former MPs.
• Market Forces campaigns for financial institutions that have custody of our money to protect not damage our environment. www.marketforces.org.uk