LGPS pools join drive to encourage Barclays to reform fossil fuel-related lending

LGPS Central and Brunel Pensions Partnership have joined with nine other major institutional investors in putting forward a resolution calling on Barclays to phase out financing of non-Paris Agreement aligned energy and utility companies.

The resolution, led by the charity ShareAction, is the first climate change resolution filed at a European bank.

It calls for Barclays to set and disclose targets to phase out the provision of financial services, including project and corporate finance and underwriting to the energy sector and gas and utility companies that are not aligned to the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, which aims to keep global temperature rise this century to well below two degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels.

LGPS Central emphasised that this proxy did not exclude Barclays lending to companies in those sectors that do meet the Paris Agreement targets.

“If the resolution is successful, we look forward to continuing to engage with the Barclays board on how it implements its Paris-aligned strategy,” they said. “This is in line with what we’re ultimately asking of all companies across all sectors which we invest in, namely to get on course with the Paris Agreement goals.”