Barclays has been an active member of the Ceres Company Network since 2019. In 2023 we partnered with Ceres to conduct a stakeholder engagement as a follow up to the research Ceres conducted in 2022 on our Just Transition strategy. We additionally co-hosted a series of Just Transition-focused workshops at both New York Climate Week and COP28.
In 2023 Barclays contributed to the GFANZ Decarbonization Methodology working group, which at COP28 in December 2023 published a “Technical Review Note on Scaling Transition Finance and Real-economy Decarbonization, a Supplement to the 2022 Net-Zero Transition Plan Report”.
Barclays joined over 40 financial institutions and stakeholders to form the Financing a Just Transition Alliance in 2021. In 2023 we contributed to stakeholder discussions which resulted in a report titled ‘Sowing seeds: How finance can support a just transition in UK agriculture’, which was designed to increase understanding across the financial sector of how it can support a just transition in agriculture by mobilising more finance towards companies committed to and making progress to support a ‘just nature transition’. Barclays became a Founding Funder of the Just Transition Finance Lab, launched on 20 February 2024.
Barclays became a founding member of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance in 2021 and contributed to the development of NZBA guidelines throughout 2023. Barclays co-leads the NZBA Autos and Trucking Working Group, which published a white paper on emerging practice in climate target setting for automotive sector financing, and contributed to the NZBA Real-Estate Working Group – which published a similar paper in December 2023.
As part of Barclays’ three-year partnership with Oxford University, we made progress on developing new datasets and methodologies for measuring emissions in the agriculture sector – which Barclays will leverage moving forward as it enhances its work in this area.
The Climate Financial Risk Forum (CFRF) brings together UK regulators and senior financial sector representatives to share their experiences in managing climate-related risks and opportunities. During 2023, Barclays chaired the Climate Financial Resilience Working Group.
Barclays became a Strategic Partner of the RMI (formerly Rocky Mountain Institute) Center for Climate-Aligned Finance, which acts as an implementation partner to banks to align their investments with a net-zero future, in 2022. In 2023 we participated in and hosted one of RMI’s Alignment Forum in-person workshops, seeking to identify best practices within the financial sector. In Q3 2023 Barclays became a Founding Consortium Collaborator to support the expansion of RMI’s Oil Climate Index plus Gas – a public tool that uses a transparent, standardised methodology to estimate methane and other GHG emissions from equivalent barrels of oil and gas. RMI has currently modelled two thirds of the world’s oil and gas assets. We also joined the joint RMI and UK Finance Transition Finance Alignment Forum.
Barclays is a member of the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s (SMI) Financial Services Task Force (FSTF). The Sustainable Markets Initiative was launched in 2020 by His Majesty King Charles III, when he was Prince of Wales. Barclays has co-led the Net Zero working group since 2021 and in 2023 co-led the Nature-based Solutions (NbS) working group. We co-hosted a series of FSTF workshops at London Climate Action Week and New York Climate Week contributing towards the launch of the Coastal Nature-based Solutions Practitioner’s guide in November 2023.
Barclays has been a member of PCAF since 2020. During 2023 we co-chaired the Capital Markets Working Group of eight global banks – the work from which resulted in the publication of the PCAF Facilitated Emissions Standard (The Standard, Part B), which outlines how financial institutions should account for the emissions associated with the facilitation of capital markets activities.
Barclays has been a member of United Nations Environment Programme – Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) for over 20 years and was a founding signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) as well as joining the Net-Zero Banking Alliance in 2021. From 2021 Barclays Group Head of Sustainability has been a member of the global UNEP FI Banking Board and the European Regional Board, and our CEO joined the Leadership Council in 2022. Throughout 2023 Barclays has contributed to the PRB 2030 process, a strategic project to further develop the UN PRB framework, and participated in the Biodiversity Target Setting Working Group – helping build guidance and inputting on case studies.
Barclays joined The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC) in 2022. In 2023 we collaborated with C2ES on a range of issues, including participating in their technology working group and co-hosting an event at COP28 on supporting the global cleantech momentum.
The Equator Principles aim to establish a financial industry benchmark for determining, assessing, and managing environmental and social risk in projects. Barclays was one of the four banks which collaborated in developing the principles, ahead of their launch in 2003, and remains a signatory. Barclays policies and procedures are aligned to the fourth iteration of the Equator Principles (EP4, 2020).
Barclays is a member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Forum, a consultative network of institutional supporters who share the vision and mission of the TNFD. Throughout 2023 we actively provided feedback on the draft TNFD disclosure guidance, which was officially launched in September 2023.
In 2023 Barclays contributed to the Transition Plan Taskforce (TPT)’s publication of sector-agnostic and sector-specific guidance documents. This included taking part in the TPT Sandbox, participating in the Banking, Metals & Mining, Food & Beverage, Nature and Just Transition working groups, and providing expert reviews for the Oil & Gas working group.
Barclays became a member of the Banking for Impact on Climate in Agriculture (B4ICA) in 2021 – an initiative convened by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development that brings together banks and expert partners to develop technical recommendations and practical solutions to align banks’ financial portfolios in the food, agriculture, and land-use space towards net zero and Paris Agreement goals. In 2023 we contributed to B4ICA’s ‘Foundational Practices for Banks: Base lining, net-zero target-setting and reporting financed emissions across the agriculture and food value chain’.
UK Business & Biodiversity Forum
2021
Barclays has been a member of the UK Business & Biodiversity Forum (UKBBF) since 2021, a business-to-business hub that supports companies in understanding the value of biodiversity and integrating nature into their value chains and decision-making. In 2023 we engaged with UKBBF to help contribute to building TNFD frameworks
