Barclays

HQ: GB

NZBA member since 2021

Fossil-fuel financing committed in 2024

$35.4B

NZBA pledge vs reality

Pledge signed
2021
Fossil financing change since pledge (2021 → 2024)
+63.1%
Fossil-fuel share of energy financing (2024)
8%

Joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance as a founding member in April 2021 with a public commitment to align lending with a 1.5C pathway. By 2024, fossil fuel financing rose to $35.4B — a 63% increase over the $21.7B 2021 baseline and the steepest one-year jump in the top 10 (+55.48% from 2023 to 2024). The largest European fossil financier, while still pitching itself as net-zero credible.

View loan breakdown (5 items)

Loan breakdown

  • Oil and gas company financing (2024)

    Oil & gas
    $21.2B
    Medium — Approx 60% of Barclays' $35.4B 2024 fossil book, derived from the BOCC 2024 sectoral split for Barclays (BOCC dropped per-bank sub-sector tables in the 2025 edition). Methodology overview p.56.

  • LNG expansion and infrastructure financing (2024)

    LNG
    $6.4B
    Medium — Estimate: ~18% of 2024 fossil book based on Barclays disclosed LNG and methane sector exposure; BOCC 2025 spotlights LNG financing but does not publish per-bank LNG totals.

  • Coal mining and coal power financing (2024)

    Coal
    $1.1B
    Medium — Reflects Barclays' published coal restriction policy: residual financing to diversified mining and utility groups with coal exposure. Approx 3% of 2024 fossil book.

  • Pipelines and midstream infrastructure (2024)

    Pipeline
    $3.5B
    Medium — Approx 10% share consistent with BOCC 2024 midstream classification for Barclays.

  • Tar sands, fracking, ultra-deepwater and other expansion segments (2024)

    Other
    $3.2B
    Medium — Residual from $35.4B total after categorised splits; aligns with BOCC 2025 expansion-financing commentary p.16.

Fossil Fool

Foolishness score: 8

Show derivation
  1. Fossil financing growth since NZBA pledge (+63% 2021 to 2024)Value: 0.63Weight: 0.3[1]
  2. 2023 to 2024 financing change (+55.48%, largest in top 10)Value: 0.55Weight: 0.25[1]
  3. Active NZBA membership maintained while expanding fossil bookValue: 0.9Weight: 0.25[3]
  4. Fossil-to-green financing ratio (1.34x — fossil exceeds green)Value: 0.6Weight: 0.2[5]

Formula: Weighted score combining pledge-period fossil growth, single-year acceleration, active pledge membership while expanding (the hypocrisy gate), and fossil-to-green ratio. Barclays scores high because it is the canonical NZBA hypocrisy case: the only top-10 European bank still holding active membership while running the steepest fossil acceleration in the cohort.

Weights version: v1.0

Deep dive: revision history & methodology

Revision history

  1. 1FossilFoolish editorial

    Initial publication. Source: BOCC 2025 league table (p.10-11) and Barclays climate disclosures. Canonical SC-005 NZBA-active receipt.

Edited by: FossilFoolish editorial

Last reviewed:

Source: Banking on Climate Chaos 2025 (BOCC Coalition).

Sources

  1. Banking on Climate Chaos 2025: League Table — 65 banks ranked by fossil financing — Rainforest Action Network, BankTrack, Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, Reclaim Finance, Sierra Club, Urgewald, CEED (accessed 03 May 2026)
  2. Banking on Climate Chaos 2025: Methodology Overview (p.56-57) — Rainforest Action Network et al. (accessed 03 May 2026)
  3. Net-Zero Banking Alliance: Member List — UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (accessed 03 May 2026)
  4. Wells Fargo Leaves Climate-Focused Banking Initiative — ESG Today (accessed 05 May 2026)
  5. Barclays: Our climate strategy — Barclays PLC (accessed 05 May 2026)
  6. Barclays Annual Report 2024 — Barclays PLC (accessed 03 May 2026)