(Adds target detail, context on other banks)
LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Barclays on
Wednesday said it was tightening lending criteria for coal power
and would stop financing oil sands exploration and production,
but did not announce new restrictions on oil and gas lending as
some rivals have.
The British bank extended a previously announced plan to
phase out financing for clients involved in coal-fired power
generation by 2030 from the UK and European Union, to include
other countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development.
Banks globally have been detailing their plans to cut
emissions and keep a lid on the rise in global temperatures, but
environmental campaigners accuse them of moving too slowly and
have called on them to stop financing new oil and gas drilling.
Announcing results for 2022, Barclays said it will stop
financing all oil tar sands companies, as well as new oil sands
pipelines, whereas previously it had said it would work with
those firms undertaking efforts to reduce their emissions.
However, some environmental activists had hoped the bank
would announce a new policy on financing for oil and gas, after
HSBC said in December it would stop direct funding new oil and
gas fields. NatWest and Lloyds have also said they will stop
some direct finance for new oil and gas.
Barclays also set its first emission-cutting target for the
automotive manufacturing industry, with a pledge to reduce
emissions intensity between 40% and 64% by 2030 against a 2022
baseline.
For the residential real estate sector, Barclays set a
"convergence point" of reducing emissions by 40% by 2030, which
it said was not a target because decarbonising UK homes was
dependent on wider changes beyond its control.
Barclays said in its annual report that it had reduced its
emissions for the energy, power, steel and cement sectors in
2022.
For energy, absolute emissions generated by its energy
clients have dropped 32% since 2020 - putting it well on track
for its target of a 40% reduction this decade - but the bank
acknowledged the decline was helped by cash-rich energy
customers needing less finance.
Campaign groups said they were disappointed Barclays had not
made further commitments to curtail financing fossil fuel
expansion and that it had failed to match the ambition of its
peers.
"By continuing on this path, Barclays is ignoring the
science and disregarding its customers," Tony Burdon, CEO at
Make my Money Matter said in a statement.
ShareAction's Jeanne Martin called on Barclays to update its
oil and gas policy before its 2023 annual general meeting "to
meet science-based standards on climate", or face further
shareholder pressure.
(Reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Editing by David Holmes,
Jane Merriman and Mike Harrison)
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