Celebrities call on Wimbledon to drop Barclays sponsorship
Richard Curtis, Emma Thompson and Deborah Meaden are among celebrities who have called on Wimbledon to end its new partnership with Barclays over the bank’s multibillion-pound support for fossil fuel projects.
As the 2023 championships get under way on Monday, the group claims the sponsorship deal, reportedly worth at least £20m a year, is damaging the club’s reputation.
In an open letter to Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the campaigners said: “Put simply, Barclays is financing and profiting from climate chaos, and accepting a sponsorship deal from them is an endorsement of these actions.”
Richard Curtis, Emma Thompson and Deborah Meaden are among celebrities who have called on Wimbledon to end its new partnership with Barclays over the bank’s multibillion-pound support for fossil fuel projects.
As the 2023 championships get under way on Monday, the group claims the sponsorship deal, reportedly worth at least £20m a year, is damaging the club’s reputation.
In an open letter to Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the campaigners said: “Put simply, Barclays is financing and profiting from climate chaos, and accepting a sponsorship deal from them is an endorsement of these actions.”
Richard Curtis, Emma Thompson and Deborah Meaden are among celebrities who have called on Wimbledon to end its new partnership with Barclays over the bank’s multibillion-pound support for fossil fuel projects.
As the 2023 championships get under way on Monday, the group claims the sponsorship deal, reportedly worth at least £20m a year, is damaging the club’s reputation.
In an open letter to Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the campaigners said: “Put simply, Barclays is financing and profiting from climate chaos, and accepting a sponsorship deal from them is an endorsement of these actions.”
An AELTC spokesperson said: “Barclays’ commitment to creating access to sport for all is something that we are passionate about and, thanks to their generous support of the Wimbledon Foundation, will be a central theme of our partnership.
“We believe that Wimbledon, along with other major sporting bodies and events, has a meaningful role to play in helping to protect the environment, today and for the future. Our ambition to have a positive impact on the environment is central to our day-to-day operations and is a core part of putting on a successful championships.”
A Barclays spokesperson said: “We have set 2030 targets to reduce the emissions that we finance in five high-emitting sectors in our financing portfolio, including the energy sector, where we have achieved a 32% reduction in our financed emissions since 2020.”
cover photo:Celebrities call on Wimbledon to drop Barclays sponsorship
