Barclays seeks climate director after protests over fossil fuel finance

Communications role follows year in which campaigners targeted bank over environmental stance

Barclays has kicked off a search for a director to champion its climate efforts, after a bruising year in which the UK bank was targeted by campaigners over its environmental record.

The high street lender recently closed applications for a climate communications director based in London, which is believed to be one of the most senior roles dedicated to coordinating its public response to climate pressures.

The director’s responsibilities will include creating a “compelling narrative for climate transition” linked to the bank’s wider strategy, assessing “reputation and media risk” around climate issues, and working with senior stakeholders “to influence the outcome of such issues in a positive way”, according to the job posting.

It comes after a challenging year for Barclays in which it was targeted by climate campaigners at its AGM in May and faced pressure over its sponsorship of Wimbledon, as well as over its ties to the National Trust. The lender has also been hit by grassroots boycotts, including by a pensioner who refused to pay her council tax because of a link to the bank.

Campaigners are concerned over Barclays’ support of carbon-heavy industries, having been the top European funder of fossil fuels between 2016 and 2022, according to the Rainforest Action Network’s banking on climate chaos report.

However, Barclays stressed it was working towards plans to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and noted that its energy sector financing had dropped by 25% since 2021.

Campaigners said the creation of such a high-level climate communications role was a sign that Barclays was growing “scared” of climate activists.

Joanna Warrington, at Fossil Free London, said: “In recent years we’ve seen campaigning pressure expand beyond the oil giants like Shell and Equinor, on to banks and the massive funding they provide to companies building new oil and gas projects that would be impossible without it. Barclays is clearly scared. This new PR role is just another way for it to armour itself up.”

The hiring follows similar moves by lenders, including the Canadian bank RBC, which recently announced it was hiring a head of climate transition who will have responsibilities including producing “lasting responses to climate activism”. RBC said climate was a “top priority” and that it was investing in a dedicated team to ensure the bank was “best positioned to support these efforts”.

The US bank Citigroup recently posted an advert for a vice-president for environmental, social and governance stakeholder engagement. The new hire will be paid up to $180,070 (£144,436) a year, and focus on environmental issues and human rights. The bank has faced criticism over its impact on indigenous rights via pipeline funding. Citigroup did not respond to a request for comment.

Richard Brooks, the climate finance director at the environmental group Stand.earth, said: “Major banks hiring senior staff as spin doctors to green their bad images on climate issues rather than actually tackling their fossil fuel financing is utterly sickening, given the deaths in Hawaii, fires in Canada’s Arctic and extreme heat all over North America.”

He said banks needed to step up their climate efforts rather than “attempting to squash demands of shareholders, customers and the public alike”.

A Barclays spokesperson said: “Barclays has made a significant number of sustainability hires in many teams, reflecting our commitment to work with customers and clients as they transition to a low-carbon business model and our own ambition to be net zero by 2050.”

The bank said it had provided £99bn in green financing since 2018, and planned to offer firms $1tn in “sustainable and transition financing” between 2023 and 2030.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Barclays was planning to cut hundreds of trading and deal-making jobs, potentially starting as early as this week, after a market lull that had hit investment banks globally.

Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA - Campaigners are concerned about Barclays’ support of carbon-heavy industries.