The National Trust has voted overwhelmingly to seek a new banking partner in a significant victory for members who have long argued that its relationship with Barclays was at odds with its commitment to protecting the natural world.
The resolution, passed at the charity’s annual general meeting on Saturday with the backing of its board of trustees, instructs the organisation to begin a competitive tendering process for its banking arrangements.
That process will, for the first time, centre on the condition that the new bank demonstrates a positive commitment to protecting biodiversity and reducing the human-induced climate crisis.
Campaigners said the result, ۵۳,۲۵۶ votes for and ۴,۰۹۴ against, sent a message that charities should apply the same environmental standards to their financial relationships as they do to their investments and suppliers.
Others questioned the significance of the success, with insiders suggesting that the tendering process will not take place for at least a year.
Despite supporting the vote the National Trust sounded a qualifying note, with Sandy Nairne, deputy chair of the board of trustees, warning: “The outcome of the ballot provides the board with an important indication of members’ views, but it is not binding on the trustees.
“The trustees will carefully consider the result alongside the discussion we have heard today as part of their future decision making,” he added.
“This result highlights a profound shift in NGO accountability,” said Drew James, a proposer of the resolution and a member of Christian Climate Action.
“Civil society looks to charities, universities and faith groups to sever ties with financial institutions failing to match their ethical standards.”
The move follows years of pressure from members concerned about Barclays’ financing of the fossil fuel industry. The bank has been criticised for its support for oil and gas expansion, including fracking and methane gas infrastructure, while the National Trust has repeatedly identified the climate emergency and the decline of nature as the greatest threats to the landscapes, wildlife and historic properties in its care.
The vote came as the trust faces mounting consequences of extreme weather across its portfolio of countryside, coastline and historic buildings. A wildfire at Dunwich Heath in Suffolk in July destroyed ۱۰۴ hectares (۲۵۶ acres) of ancient heathland, with campaigners estimating that the damage would take ۲۵ years to recover. Other trust properties have faced the effects of flash flooding, prolonged drought and increasingly severe weather.
James said the relationship with Barclays was particularly difficult to reconcile with the Trust’s public position on the climate crisis. “For years, our trustees have declared climate change and the decline in nature to be the biggest threat to the places in our care. Each is human-induced, and the pace is quickening,” he said.
He pointed to comments made by the trust’s chief executive at a seminar during the Labour party conference, in which the executive identified keeping fossil fuels in the ground as the most significant response to the climate breakdown.
“Meanwhile our bank, Barclays, undermines our conservation mission by channelling billions of dollars into fossil fuel expansion,” James said.
The resolution’s supporters argued that the trust’s association with the bank was inconsistent with its responsibilities under the National Trust Act ۱۹۰۷, which established its duty to preserve places of historic interest and natural beauty for the benefit of the nation.
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They also pointed to the Trust’s previous advice to the public, encouraging them to bank ethically. “It is contradictory for the organisation to hold its own banking provider to a lower standard than its suppliers and investment portfolio,” said James.
However, the National Trust has made clear that the tender will not be restricted to specialist ethical banks. In its supporting statement for the vote, the board said the tender “must remain open to the major UK clearing banks”.
It added that “while some members may understandably aspire to the use of a specialist ethical bank, the evidence presented to the board of trustees indicates that no such provider currently has the combination of cash handling capability, lending capacity, payments infrastructure and operational scale required to support an organisation of the Trust’s size and complexity”.
Barclays has defended its relationship with the National Trust and its wider approach to financing the energy sector. A spokesperson said: “It is our privilege to support and bank the National Trust and we value their engagement on these important topics.
“As a leading energy financier, we recognise the interconnectedness of economic growth, energy security and affordability and decarbonisation to meet society’s needs. Over the past three years, we have facilitated more than $۳۰۰bn (£۲۲۵bn) of sustainable and transition finance, including billions for cleaner energy projects here in the UK, and invested millions into climate tech.”
Campaigners, however, dispute the significance of the $۳۰۰bn fund, pointing to Barclays’ latest annual report which states that fossil fuel entities can access it, provided the money is not designated directly for oil and gas activity.
“This means that a reduction in carbon intensity, such as a switch from tar sands extraction to natural gas, could qualify for sustainability backing even if it results in a net increase in total carbon emissions,” said James.
Restore Trust, a group of National Trust members, has said the vote shows the organisation is straying from its core purpose.
Cornelia van der Poll, its chair, called the vote “a distraction from the National Trust’s charitable purpose of properly maintaining all the historic buildings and countryside in its care”.
