Barclays has pledged to stop directly financing energy clients’ new oil and gas projects.
The pledge follows a series of organisations disinvesting from Barclays over its fossil fuel financing.
The bank’s updated Climate Change Statement contains commitments including:
- No project finance, or other direct finance to energy clients, for upstream oil and gas expansion projects or related infrastructure.
- Restrictions for new energy clients engaged in expansion.
- Restrictions on non-diversified energy clients engaged in long lead expansion.
- Additional restrictions on unconventional oil and gas, including in the Amazon biome and projects involving extra heavy oil.
- Requirements for energy clients to have 2030 methane reduction targets, a commitment to end all routine / non-essential venting and flaring by 2030 and near-term net zero aligned Scope 1 and 2 targets by January 2026.
- Expectation for energy clients to produce transition plans or decarbonisation strategies by January 2025.
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Barclays group head of sustainability Laura Barlow said: “Addressing climate change is a critical and complex challenge.
“We continue to work with our energy clients as they decarbonise and support their efforts to transition in a manner that is just, orderly and addresses energy security.
“Today we strengthen our commitment to the energy transition, with policies that will focus our capital and resources to the energy companies that play a key role in the transition.”
The bank’s updated statement was published after engagement with responsible investment charity ShareAction.
ShareAction campaign manager Kelly Shields said: “[Barclays’ statement] contains some positive commitments from the bank including its decision to set basic climate tests for its oil and gas clients, alongside its promise to stop financing new oil and gas projects directly.”
Shields highlighted that the statement however “could have gone so much further”.
“Barclays’ intention to request decarbonisation plans from its oil and gas clients is the right one.
“But for it to have teeth, the bank must demand clients stop engaging in activities that increase the climate crisis, such as oil and gas exploration.”
