Barclays climate strategy: greenwashing and business as usual

Reclaim Finance argues that Barclays' updated climate policies are insufficient and misleading, claiming the bank continues to support oil and gas expansion through corporate finance and vague frameworks. The analysis asserts that the bank's Transition Finance Framework includes problematic technologies like 'blue' hydrogen and CCUS, while failing to set specific, science-based financing targets for sustainable power.

• Barclays' commitment to end project finance for new oil and gas fields is described as potentially meaningless because the bank primarily provides support to the industry through corporate finance.
• The bank's policy allows it to continue supporting companies responsible for over 73% of expected new oil and gas fields, including major clients like ExxonMobil and Shell, to whom Barclays provided US$12.997 billion and US$6.736 billion respectively between 2016 and 2022.
• The revised policy for non-diversified Groups allows for exceptions for companies where 10% or less of planned oil and gas capital expenditure is in long-lead expansion, meaning upstream companies are not automatically excluded from financial services.
• The Transition Finance Framework is criticized for expanding the scope of activities covered by its US$1 trillion financing target, which the author claims waters down the objective and may result in less financing for sustainable energy.
• The document identifies 'blue' hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) as technologies included in the Transition Finance Framework that could impede a just transition by increasing reliance on fossil fuels or delaying their phase-out.

APA

Martin, L. (2024). Barclays climate strategy: greenwashing and business as usual. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2024/02/14/barclays-climate-strategy-greenwashing-and-business-as-usual/

Chicago

Martin, Léo. Barclays climate strategy: greenwashing and business as usual. Reclaim Finance, 2024. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2024/02/14/barclays-climate-strategy-greenwashing-and-business-as-usual/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Martin |first1=Léo |title=Barclays climate strategy: greenwashing and business as usual |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=14 February 2024 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2024/02/14/barclays-climate-strategy-greenwashing-and-business-as-usual/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{martin2024barclays, author = {Martin, Léo}, title = {{Barclays climate strategy: greenwashing and business as usual}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2024}, month = feb, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2024/02/14/barclays-climate-strategy-greenwashing-and-business-as-usual/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }