MEMBERS of Christian Climate Action (CCA) held a vigil outside CAFOD’s London headquarters last Friday, in their campaign for NGOs and charities to end their dealings with Barclays Bank.
The vigil was one of a series organised by CCA, urging charities to reconsider their banking ties with Barclays, Europe’s largest fossil-fuel investor. A similar prayer vigil was held before Christian Aid made the decision to close its account with Barclays last month (News, 28 July). A spokesperson for Barclays said at the time that it was “clear that addressing climate change is an urgent and complex challenge”, and that it was “using our entire franchise to support new green technologies and infrastructure projects that will build up low-carbon capacity and capability”.
The co-founder of CCA, Holly-Anna Petersen, said: “When a charity chooses Barclays, this also gives Barclay’s social licence and political influence, as it is able to present itself as a bank associated with positive causes, instead of one which is bankrolling climate collapse. In this critical time for life on our planet, it is important that charities put their money where their mouth is. If they are declaring their positive impact, they need to move away from this destructive bank.”
In 2021, the International Energy Agency said that exploitation and development of new oil and gas fields must stop if the world was to stay within safe limits of global heating.
A spokesperson for CAFOD said: “Barclays is not, and has never been, our main banking partner. We use one of their services, as it’s the most practical way we have of making payments to fragile countries like Syria, which has just suffered one of the worst earthquakes in generations.
“Getting aid into countries like Syria is already incredibly difficult, and our partners need money to save lives. Without this service, we’d no longer be able to support our partners in Syria, which would leave vulnerable people without aid.”
The charity will continue to monitor all available banking services and urges all banks to act more sustainably.
CCA’s next vigil is to take place at the end of the month, at the Greenbelt Festival which is considering ending its dealings with Barclays.
Joe Ware is a senior climate journalist for Christian Aid.