National Trust votes to seek banking partner more in tune with its environmental policies

National Trust votes to seek banking partner more in tune with its environment policies Charity’s AGM decided overwhelmingly to begin a tendering process amid criticism of current bank Barclays fossil fuel investments

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 – 53,256 votes for and 4,094 against – sent a message that charities should apply the same environmental standards to their financial relationships as they do to their investments and suppliers.

But others questioned the significance of the success, with insiders suggesting that the tendering process will not take place for at least a year. “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 comes 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 104 hectares (256 acres) of ancient heathland, with campaigners estimating that the damage would take 25 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.