One of Britain’s most powerful charities, the National Trust, has hit back at pressure to cut ties with Barclays bank over environmental concerns.
The trust, which acts to conserve more than 780 miles of coastline and 500 historic properties, claims that it can wield influence within the banking sector as a whole and does not need to ditch the global bank as a supplier.
An attempt to stop the charity from banking with Barclays failed after losing a vote at its annual general meeting, but a grandson of one of the trust’s largest donors has doubled down on the campaign.
Dominic Acland said his environmentalist grandfather, who donated the family’s 7,000-hectare (17,000-acre) estates in Devon and Somerset to the charity in 1944, would be “horrified that the National Trust is banking with Barclays”, according to correspondence between Acland and the charity seen by the Financial Times.
He further claimed in the correspondence that the charity’s approach of seeking to leverage its position as a client of Barclays to halt investment in fossil fuel exploration and other climate commitments was “not working”.
“It seems completely out of kilter to be banking with Barclays … when they [the National Trust] are an organisation that cares so deeply about nature and the environment,” Acland told the FT.
The National Trust is the ninth-biggest charity in the UK by expenditure, pumping half-a-billion pounds into its activities each year, according to data gathered by the Charity Commission, which governs the sector.
The charity has already ceased new investments into fossil fuels, but still banks with Barclays, which does directly invest in new fossil fuel projects. While Lloyds, HSBC and NatWest have said they will stop directly funding fresh fossil fuel extraction, Barclays has not made a similar pledge.
Barclays’ stance on the fossil fuel industry has come under growing scrutiny in recent years. Since November last year, a group called Christian Climate Action has put pressure on a range of charities, including the National Trust, to quit Barclays.
In May, the bank’s annual general meeting was disrupted by protesters who had reworked lyrics of a hit Spice Girls song to underline the bank’s role as one of Europe’s largest funders of fossil fuels.
In July, fellow charity Christian Aid switched its banking activities from Barclays to Lloyds. Martin Birch, chief operating officer for Christian Aid, said in a statement last month that the bank’s “record on fossil-fuel finance, and their weak commitment to future improvements in this area meant that we had to seek a more suitable provider”.
Last month celebrities including the film director Richard Curtis, the actor Emma Thompson and the entrepreneur Deborah Meaden also called on Wimbledon to end its new partnership with Barclays over the bank’s support for fossil fuel projects. They claimed that the sponsorship deal, reportedly worth £20m a year, was harmful to the tennis club’s reputation.
A Barclays spokespersonsaid the bank believes it can “make the greatest difference as a bank by working with customers and clients as they transition to a low-carbon business model”. These customers include “many oil and gas companies that are critical to the transition, and have committed significant resources and expertise to renewable energy”.
The spokesperson added: “Where companies are unwilling to reduce their emissions consistent with internationally accepted pathways, they may find it difficult to access financing, including from Barclays,” , noting that the bank has committed to become net zero by 2050.
The National Trust told the Guardian that it works with “partners and suppliers who are committed to reducing their climate impact” as part of its sustainability goals, which includes a commitment for the charity to become carbon net zero by 2030.
“We are clear that banks, including Barclays, need to do much more to address the financing of the fossil fuel industry,” it said, adding: “As a big charity, we know we can help influence change within the banking sector.”
