Climate change protesters including some National Trust members, volunteers and staff are this week calling on the conservation charity to stop banking with Barclays and switch to one that does not invest in fossil fuels.
Starting today, campaigners will be targeting more than 40 National Trust sites across the UK, taking part in actions such as parades and punting protests inside or outside the grounds.
A group of National Trust members, volunteers and staff organised the protests, with support from environmental groups including Extinction Rebellion, Parents for Future, XR Elders, Tipping Point, Money Rebellion, Fossil Free London and Christian Climate Action.
According to campaigning network Bank Better, 52 organisations including Christian Aid and Oxfam have committed to refuse sponsorship from banks funding new fossil fuel projects.
Last year, Christian Aid announced its decision to stop banking with Barclays and transition to Lloyds Bank while Oxfam said in January that it would withdraw funding from the bank due to concerns over its “continued financing of fossil fuels”.
Meanwhile, the National Trust last year called on Barclays to act on its financing of the fossil fuel industry after it came under pressure to end its relationship with the bank.
In February, Barclays announced it would stop directly financing its energy clients’ new oil and gas projects as part of its revised climate change statement.
Trust ‘lagging behind’ other charities
Bank Better said that despite the National Trust’s leadership in conservation and wildlife protection, the charity “is still lagging behind” other organisations.
It said that the charity is a treasured institution that contributes more to the conservation of the British countryside and heritage than almost any other organisation.
“That is why we’re so saddened by the National Trust banking with Barclays – the biggest funder of fossil fuels in Europe,” it said in a statement.
“Despite campaigners engaging with the National Trust, urging them to drop Barclays, they have decided to continue their relationship with a bank that finances the destruction of the very environments that the National Trust strives to protect.”
Clare Fussell, campaign director for land use and climate charity Operation Noah, said: “We love the National Trust, but it urgently needs to switch to greener, cleaner banking in order to keep protecting the places we love for future generations.
“This is an ideal opportunity for the Trust to make its money work for the good of our shared home.”
Jeff Waage, ecologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “To avoid a catastrophic future due to climate change we must stop investing in new fossil fuel exploration and extraction.
“Barclays is a major investor in this area and its response to this challenge falls far short of what is needed. Climate change is predicted to be the major driver of nature decline by mid-century.
“The National Trust’s continued association with Barclays undermines its own efforts and its credibility as Europe’s biggest conservation charity.”
‘We must continue to engage with the banking sector’
In response, a National Trust spokesperson told Civil Society: “The National Trust fully understands the urgency needed to find solutions to the climate crisis and the strength of feeling about this among some of our supporters.
“We welcomed Barclays’ announcement that they will stop direct financing to clients engaged in oil and gas expansion, and that they will require their clients in the energy sector to prepare climate transition plans.
“It’s critically important that we continue to engage with the banking sector to do more and faster to reduce financed emissions.”
‘We’re supporting an energy sector in transition’
Barclays was ranked in May by the Rainforest Action Network as the largest European financier of fossil fuels in 2023.
In response to the ranking, the bank said at the time: “Barclays is financing an energy sector in transition – an activity requiring significant capital.
“While doing so, our financed emissions for the energy and power sectors have reduced by 44% and 26% respectively, between 2020 and 2023.”
A spokesperson for Barclays told Civil Society: “Barclays is supporting an energy sector in transition, focusing on the diversified energy companies investing in low carbon, with greater scrutiny on those engaged in developing new oil and gas projects.
“We have stopped direct financing of new oil and gas projects, have set out clear requirements on our energy clients’ targets, transition plans or decarbonisation strategies, and have a target to facilitate $1trn of sustainable and transition finance by 2030.
“Last year we mobilised $67.8bn and while doing so, our financed emissions for the energy and power sectors reduced by 44% and 26% respectively, between 2020 and 2023.”
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