Ditch Barclays, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists!
33Signatures
50Next Target
Dear President Miss Ranee Thakar and CEO Kate Lancaster,
We are writing on behalf of RCOG members, fellows, trainees, and employees who strongly believe that the RCOG should move their bank accounts from Barclays to an ethical and sustainable bank that is in alignment with its core values and mission statement.
Where the College puts its money is one of the most critical choices it can make when it comes to combating the climate and ecological crisis. We know that action on sustainability and climate change is one of the key priority areas of the current presidency and that this ambition includes limiting “…the College’s own contributions to the climate and ecological crisis” [1]. This prioritisation is consistent with the level of harm we face from what the World Health Organisation has called “the single biggest health threat facing humanity” [2].
We applaud and support your decision to prioritise the college’s response to the climate and ecological emergency, and recognise the good work done to disinvest the RCOG’s investment portfolio away from fossil-fuel exposed funds. However, we believe that the RCOG’s use of Barclays banking services is ethically unjustifiable for an organisation dedicated to the health and wellbeing of the world’s women.
Barclays is among the top offenders in fossil fuel finance. The International Energy Agency’s Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap [3] shows that we cannot continue to pursue new oil, gas or coal expansion if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Despite this, between 2016 to 2021, Barclays injected £133 billion into the fossil fuel industry [4]. This was more than any other European bank, earning them the title of ‘Europe’s dirtiest bank’ [5].
We acknowledge and welcome that Barclays has, on 9th February 2024, published an updated energy policy, refining a timeline of commitments for achieving decarbonisation by 2050 [6]. Unfortunately, the wording creates loopholes that mean Barclays is unlikely to move from its position as Europe’s biggest funder of the fossil fuel industry since 2016. It remains able to fund fracking, arctic oil and ultra-deepwater projects and to invest in even those companies exclusively generating profit from fossil fuels. Billions of pounds a year will continue to fund fossil fuel giants, such as Shell, Exxon and BP, several of whom have recently backtracked on their own green pledges [7].
Each £10,000 the RCOG has deposited in a Barclays account results in 2.376 tonnes of CO2 pollution [8]. Based on the balance given in the RCOG’s 2022 accounts [9], the RCOG is responsible, through its banking with Barclays, for the emission of 3,562.8 tonnes of CO2/year. This is equivalent to 16,495 return flights from London to Rome.
In addition to bankrolling climate catastrophe, Barclays has come under fire for a range of ethical concerns including human rights, workers’ rights, funding nuclear weapons manufacture, arms and military supply, political activities, anti-social finance and tax conduct [10]. For example, Barclays owns shares worth over £1.3 billion in companies supplying Israel with weapons and military technology that have been used in attacks on the Palestinian people. Barclays provides an additional £4 billion worth of loans and other financial services to these companies. One such company is Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private arms company, which supplies 85% of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or military drones, used by the Israeli army [11]. Barclays is thus complicit in the Israeli siege and assault on Palestine, which is widely considered to have breached international humanitarian law, and which is being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a Genocidal act. Breaking ties with banks financing injustice sends a powerful political message in line with the College’s values.
Lastly, as governments begin to take far-reaching climate action, investments in fossil fuels are expected to become increasingly financially risky and eventually may become stranded assets [12].
Every day that the College continues to bank with Barclays is another day that members’ money is funding harm. Institutions like the RCOG can have a significant influence on their members’, employees’, and the public’s perception of Barclays, and thus on the bank's policies and decisions. For example, the international boycott campaign that persuaded Barclays to withdraw its funding to the South African apartheid state in the 1980’s, was, with other aligned actions, instrumental in establishing South Africa as a pariah state, leading eventually to the dismantling of the apartheid regime [13][14]. We urgently need to mobilise in a similar way to achieve the changes in financial flows required to limit the fossil fuel emissions which threaten a liveable future for our patients and families. Moving to an ethical and sustainable bank is an achievable, impactful and financially sensible action that the RCOG can take.
We absolutely understand that the college has complex financial needs and that there is a process of due diligence that must be undertaken before transferring your banking accounts. However, increasingly other organisations are committing to this difficult transition, including multinational charities such as Oxfam [15], who presumably have equally complex banking needs.
We therefore ask that a clear and public commitment to begin this process is made, and that a target date for completion of the process is set. This will send a clear signal to members, employees, the financial sector and women worldwide that the RCOG takes the health impacts of the climate and ecological crisis seriously and will do its best to avoid supporting a financial system which is investing in climate collapse.
Kind regards,
Miss Natasha Abdul Aziz MRCOG, Consultant Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Dr Alexandra Bullock, MRCOG, ST6 Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Dr Alice Clack MRCOG, Consultant O+G, Glan Clwyd Hospital
References
[1] RCOG: The college’s ambition for sustainability and climate change: https://www.rcog.org.uk/about-us/the-college-s-ambition-for-sustainability-and-climate-change/
[2] World Health Organisation. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/08/fastfacts-health.pdf
[3] International Energy Agency, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.
https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
[4] Banking on Climate Chaos, Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2022. https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org//wp-content/themes/bocc-2021/inc/bcc-data-2022/BOCC_2022_vSPREAD.pdf
[5] Artists hijack billboards to protest the greenwashing of 'Europe's dirtiest bank'.
https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/09/22/artists-hijack-billboards-to-protest-the-greenwashing-of-europe-s-dirtiest-bank
[6] Climate Change Statement, Barclays Bank, February 2024.
https://home.barclays/content/dam/home-barclays/documents/citizenship/our-reporting-and-policy-positions/Climate-Change-Statement.pdf
[7] Analysis of Barclays' February 2024 energy policy, ShareAction.
https://shareaction.org/reports/analysis-of-barclays-february-2024-energy-policy
[8] MotherTree climate league table: https://www.mymothertree.com/bank-league-table
[9] RCOG consolidated annual report and accounts: for the period to 30 June 2022
[10] Ethical Consumer, Barclays Plc. https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/company-profile/barclays-plc
[11] Palestine solidarity campaign: Barclays: Don’t bank on apartheid: https://palestinecampaign.org/campaigns/stop-arming-israel-3/
[12] Semieniuk G, Holden PB, Mercure JF, Salas P, Pollitt H, Jobson K, Vercoulen P, Chewpreecha U, Edwards NR, Viñuales JE. Stranded fossil-fuel assets translate to major losses for investors in advanced economies. Nature Climate Change. 2022 Jun;12(6):532-8. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01356-y
[13] Forward to Freedom: Barclays and Shell:The disinvestment campaign: https://www.aamarchives.org/campaigns/barclays-and-shell.html
[14] British students force end of Barclays bank’s investments in South African apartheid 1969-1987: https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/british-students-force-end-barclays-bank-s-investments-south-african-apartheid-1969-1987
[15] Third Sector: Oxfam drops Barclays over its ‘continued financing of fossil fuels’: https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/oxfam-drops-barclays-its-continued-financing-fossil-fuels/finance/article/1859467
Further information on fossil fuel financing:
https://bank.green/banks/barclays
https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org
https://portfolio.earth/campaigns/bankrolling-extinction/
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/barclays-banks-climate-change-fossil-fuels/
https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2023/01/17/throwing-fuel-on-the-fire-gfanz-members-provide-billions-in-finance-for-fossil-fuel-expansion/
https://bankonourfuture.org/news/banks-green-funding/
https://influencemap.org/report/Finance-and-Climate-Change-17639
https://sharklays.co.uk/Home/Facts
https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/
We are writing on behalf of RCOG members, fellows, trainees, and employees who strongly believe that the RCOG should move their bank accounts from Barclays to an ethical and sustainable bank that is in alignment with its core values and mission statement.
Where the College puts its money is one of the most critical choices it can make when it comes to combating the climate and ecological crisis. We know that action on sustainability and climate change is one of the key priority areas of the current presidency and that this ambition includes limiting “…the College’s own contributions to the climate and ecological crisis” [1]. This prioritisation is consistent with the level of harm we face from what the World Health Organisation has called “the single biggest health threat facing humanity” [2].
We applaud and support your decision to prioritise the college’s response to the climate and ecological emergency, and recognise the good work done to disinvest the RCOG’s investment portfolio away from fossil-fuel exposed funds. However, we believe that the RCOG’s use of Barclays banking services is ethically unjustifiable for an organisation dedicated to the health and wellbeing of the world’s women.
Barclays is among the top offenders in fossil fuel finance. The International Energy Agency’s Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap [3] shows that we cannot continue to pursue new oil, gas or coal expansion if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Despite this, between 2016 to 2021, Barclays injected £133 billion into the fossil fuel industry [4]. This was more than any other European bank, earning them the title of ‘Europe’s dirtiest bank’ [5].
We acknowledge and welcome that Barclays has, on 9th February 2024, published an updated energy policy, refining a timeline of commitments for achieving decarbonisation by 2050 [6]. Unfortunately, the wording creates loopholes that mean Barclays is unlikely to move from its position as Europe’s biggest funder of the fossil fuel industry since 2016. It remains able to fund fracking, arctic oil and ultra-deepwater projects and to invest in even those companies exclusively generating profit from fossil fuels. Billions of pounds a year will continue to fund fossil fuel giants, such as Shell, Exxon and BP, several of whom have recently backtracked on their own green pledges [7].
Each £10,000 the RCOG has deposited in a Barclays account results in 2.376 tonnes of CO2 pollution [8]. Based on the balance given in the RCOG’s 2022 accounts [9], the RCOG is responsible, through its banking with Barclays, for the emission of 3,562.8 tonnes of CO2/year. This is equivalent to 16,495 return flights from London to Rome.
In addition to bankrolling climate catastrophe, Barclays has come under fire for a range of ethical concerns including human rights, workers’ rights, funding nuclear weapons manufacture, arms and military supply, political activities, anti-social finance and tax conduct [10]. For example, Barclays owns shares worth over £1.3 billion in companies supplying Israel with weapons and military technology that have been used in attacks on the Palestinian people. Barclays provides an additional £4 billion worth of loans and other financial services to these companies. One such company is Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private arms company, which supplies 85% of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or military drones, used by the Israeli army [11]. Barclays is thus complicit in the Israeli siege and assault on Palestine, which is widely considered to have breached international humanitarian law, and which is being investigated by the International Criminal Court as a Genocidal act. Breaking ties with banks financing injustice sends a powerful political message in line with the College’s values.
Lastly, as governments begin to take far-reaching climate action, investments in fossil fuels are expected to become increasingly financially risky and eventually may become stranded assets [12].
Every day that the College continues to bank with Barclays is another day that members’ money is funding harm. Institutions like the RCOG can have a significant influence on their members’, employees’, and the public’s perception of Barclays, and thus on the bank's policies and decisions. For example, the international boycott campaign that persuaded Barclays to withdraw its funding to the South African apartheid state in the 1980’s, was, with other aligned actions, instrumental in establishing South Africa as a pariah state, leading eventually to the dismantling of the apartheid regime [13][14]. We urgently need to mobilise in a similar way to achieve the changes in financial flows required to limit the fossil fuel emissions which threaten a liveable future for our patients and families. Moving to an ethical and sustainable bank is an achievable, impactful and financially sensible action that the RCOG can take.
We absolutely understand that the college has complex financial needs and that there is a process of due diligence that must be undertaken before transferring your banking accounts. However, increasingly other organisations are committing to this difficult transition, including multinational charities such as Oxfam [15], who presumably have equally complex banking needs.
We therefore ask that a clear and public commitment to begin this process is made, and that a target date for completion of the process is set. This will send a clear signal to members, employees, the financial sector and women worldwide that the RCOG takes the health impacts of the climate and ecological crisis seriously and will do its best to avoid supporting a financial system which is investing in climate collapse.
Kind regards,
Miss Natasha Abdul Aziz MRCOG, Consultant Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Dr Alexandra Bullock, MRCOG, ST6 Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Dr Alice Clack MRCOG, Consultant O+G, Glan Clwyd Hospital
References
[1] RCOG: The college’s ambition for sustainability and climate change: https://www.rcog.org.uk/about-us/the-college-s-ambition-for-sustainability-and-climate-change/
[2] World Health Organisation. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2021/08/fastfacts-health.pdf
[3] International Energy Agency, Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector.
https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050
[4] Banking on Climate Chaos, Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2022. https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org//wp-content/themes/bocc-2021/inc/bcc-data-2022/BOCC_2022_vSPREAD.pdf
[5] Artists hijack billboards to protest the greenwashing of 'Europe's dirtiest bank'.
https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/09/22/artists-hijack-billboards-to-protest-the-greenwashing-of-europe-s-dirtiest-bank
[6] Climate Change Statement, Barclays Bank, February 2024.
https://home.barclays/content/dam/home-barclays/documents/citizenship/our-reporting-and-policy-positions/Climate-Change-Statement.pdf
[7] Analysis of Barclays' February 2024 energy policy, ShareAction.
https://shareaction.org/reports/analysis-of-barclays-february-2024-energy-policy
[8] MotherTree climate league table: https://www.mymothertree.com/bank-league-table
[9] RCOG consolidated annual report and accounts: for the period to 30 June 2022
[10] Ethical Consumer, Barclays Plc. https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/company-profile/barclays-plc
[11] Palestine solidarity campaign: Barclays: Don’t bank on apartheid: https://palestinecampaign.org/campaigns/stop-arming-israel-3/
[12] Semieniuk G, Holden PB, Mercure JF, Salas P, Pollitt H, Jobson K, Vercoulen P, Chewpreecha U, Edwards NR, Viñuales JE. Stranded fossil-fuel assets translate to major losses for investors in advanced economies. Nature Climate Change. 2022 Jun;12(6):532-8. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01356-y
[13] Forward to Freedom: Barclays and Shell:The disinvestment campaign: https://www.aamarchives.org/campaigns/barclays-and-shell.html
[14] British students force end of Barclays bank’s investments in South African apartheid 1969-1987: https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/british-students-force-end-barclays-bank-s-investments-south-african-apartheid-1969-1987
[15] Third Sector: Oxfam drops Barclays over its ‘continued financing of fossil fuels’: https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/oxfam-drops-barclays-its-continued-financing-fossil-fuels/finance/article/1859467
Further information on fossil fuel financing:
https://bank.green/banks/barclays
https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org
https://portfolio.earth/campaigns/bankrolling-extinction/
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/barclays-banks-climate-change-fossil-fuels/
https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2023/01/17/throwing-fuel-on-the-fire-gfanz-members-provide-billions-in-finance-for-fossil-fuel-expansion/
https://bankonourfuture.org/news/banks-green-funding/
https://influencemap.org/report/Finance-and-Climate-Change-17639
https://sharklays.co.uk/Home/Facts
https://makemymoneymatter.co.uk/
33Signatures
50Next Target