The Telegraph reports,
The National Trust has urged members to cut its ties with Barclays amid claims the bank is fuelling a climate crisis.
A group of eco-conscious Trust members has accused the bank of “bankrolling” the fossil fuel industry and channelling investment into fracking and methane.
They have said “it makes no sense for the Trust to partner with Barclays” given the charity’s position that “climate change is the greatest challenge facing our heritage and the natural world”.
Their concerns are laid out in a formal resolution which is subject to a vote by the charity’s paying membership, the results of which will be heard at its Annual General Meeting on Saturday.
It proposes that the organisation start looking for a new bank “as soon as practicable ... in keeping with National Trust core values”.
The resolution reads: “While the Trust works to restore nature, Barclays has spent billions supporting fracking and methane gas pipelines in North America. These activities fuel the very ecological crisis that destroys the habitats we are trying to save.
“To be a leader in conservation, the Trust’s money needs to be as green as its fields. The bottom line: We need a bank that helps us protect nature, not one that profits from its destruction.”
The National Trust has recommended that members vote in favour of the resolution, in the latest turn of a culture war waging within its membership. While the Board of Trustees supports calls to tender for a new bank, it has said that the wording of the resolution’s supporting statement does not necessarily reflect the view of the Trust itself.
A majority vote in favour would represent a long-fought victory for climate activists who have been pushing for the charity to break with Barclays, its main banking supplier, for a number of years.
They lost a vote on the matter in 2023, later staging protests at National Trust sites in 2024 in a renewed campaign.
The latest attempt, however, will be opposed by the charity’s splinter group, Restore Trust, formed over concerns the National Trust had departed from its founding principles on conservation and moved towards a focus on “modish, divisive ideologies”.
It has previously opposed the Trust’s attempts to highlight historic links to slavery, controversies including making all its scones vegan, and the introduction of its “Quick Vote” system.
Introduced in 2022, the system allows members to back the National Trust’s governing council by simply agreeing with one keystroke to its recommendation on issues and candidates.
Opponents have blamed it for allowing controversial changes to be pushed through, previously describing it as “North Korean” in nature.
Cornelia Van Der Poll, the chairman of Restore Trust, said the vote on Barclays was “a distraction from the National Trust’s charitable purpose of properly maintaining all the historic buildings and countryside in its care”.
She added: “It will divert resources and effort which could have been put towards looking after the nation’s heritage. Meanwhile, the members are disenfranchised by the Quick Vote, which funnels votes towards the management’s choices and discourages scrutiny.”