(Bloomberg) — Barclays Plc has sent a memo to staff in anticipation of questions regarding its status inside a climate alliance that’s been abandoned by Wall Street’s biggest banks.
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The London-based lender is instructing employees to “not discuss the topic unprompted,” but has provided a list of “talking points” if clients ask, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg. The internal guidance follows large-scale defections from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance in the US over the past month amid Republican attacks on climate finance. Barclays remains a member.
The development suggests that the disruptions rocking NZBA in America are being felt on the other side of the Atlantic. So far, European banks including ING Groep NV, Deutsche Bank AG and Standard Chartered Plc have declared their continued commitment to the alliance. In its memo, Barclays stopped short of doing the same.
The UK bank remains committed to net zero, according to the memo. At the same time, Barclays’ membership in external groups “will continue to evolve over time” and the bank’s continued presence in NZBA will depend on its “strategy and advocacy positions,” the memo said.
A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment.
The parade of US departures starting in early December was led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and quickly followed by Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co. BlackRock Inc. has since left an equivalent group for asset managers.
Those exits followed a wave of intensified attacks by the Republican Party on what it’s sought to characterize as “woke” capitalism. After the US retreat from NZBA was made public, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton dropped his threat to exclude Wall Street banks from municipal-bond deals.
A number of European banks, which are subject to much stricter climate regulations than their US peers, have used the moment to take a clear stand. “Our position is very straightforward, we have absolutely no intention of leaving the NZBA,” a spokesperson for StanChart told Bloomberg after Morgan Stanley’s Jan. 2 announcement it was leaving.
Barclays will focus on supporting clients through the net zero transition, in particular by financing “low carbon solutions and climate tech,” according to its memo to staff. This will be done alongside financing existing oil and gas, as well as power sector clients, “for energy security and reliability,” it said.
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Last year, Barclays created an energy transition team inside its corporate and investment bank to capitalize on an expected shift away from fossil fuels.
At the same time, the bank is a regular target of climate activists who point to its continued financing of the fossil-fuel industry. The bank is far behind Canadian, US and Japanese banks in its provision of loans and bonds to oil, gas and coal clients. But it does more such deals than its European peers, according to data compiled by Bloomberg looking back over the past three years.
Banks that sign up to NZBA commit to transition their financed emissions to align with “pathways to net zero by 2050” at the latest, according to its website. They’re also required to provide 2030 targets to show they’re on track, and to document their progress.
All banks exiting NZBA have made public statements to say they still recognize decarbonization as a worthy goal. But they’ve also made clear that their biggest duty is to serve the needs of their clients.
In its memo, Barclays notes that it’s targeted net zero emissions for its business since 2020, one year before NZBA was formed. The bank also said it remains committed to aligning its financing with the goals and timelines of the Paris climate accord; and its chief executive, CS Venkatakrishnan, continues in his role as chair of the Financial Services Task Force of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, another private sector industry group focused on the energy transition.
The memo was distributed internally last week by Barclays’ sustainability team, which has been led by Daniel Hanna since this year. He took over from Laura Barlow and will combine the role of group head of sustainability with his existing job as head of sustainable and transition finance. Barlow is continuing as a senior adviser to the bank.
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