Shareholders in Barclays and Standard Chartered are set to call on both banks to publish plans and set funding targets for the renewable energy sector at their annual general meetings (AGM) on 7 and 8 May respectively.
An investor statement will be read by ShareAction to the board of Barclays on behalf of 31 investors managing £1.36trn in assets, calling on the bank to set a financing target specifically for the renewable power sector. The investor group includes the Church of England Pensions Board, Ethos Foundation, LAPFF, Rathbones Group, Sparinvest and Trinity College Cambridge.
At Standard Chartered, an investor statement will also be read, signed by 21 investors managing £863m in assets, including Ethos Foundation, AkademikerPension, Church of England Pensions Board, LAPFF, Folksam and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.
Kelly Shields, senior campaign manager at ShareAction, commented: “The security and resilience of our energy system as well as the stability of our climate are hinging on the action we now take to develop the renewable power industry in Britain and abroad.
“Banks have taken positive steps forward in setting set broad targets around sustainable finance. However, they are not yet providing a clear strategy on how they will specifically finance the sectors and technologies most needed for the clean energy transition and limiting the harshest effects of global heating.
“This is why investors are calling for Barclays to set a funding target for the renewable energy sector, and for Standard Chartered to publish a plan on how it will finance more renewable power in markets in the Global South, where the need for scaling up sustainable investment is urgent.”
Professor Ralf Toumi, co-director of the Grantham Institute, will also attend the Barclays AGM to challenge the bank on the loophole in its energy policy, alongside a fuel poverty campaigner who will call for the bank to help finance cleaner, cheaper energy sources and infrastructure.
