Barclays is a major global financial services provider
engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking,
wealth management and investment management services.
Barclays operates in more than 50 countries and employs approximately
155,000 people, serving 48 million customers and clients worldwide.
ownership
listed on London Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext
Publicly listed holding company
headquarters
1 Churchill Place
E14 5HP London
United Kingdom
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
The CDP impels organisations to record their carbon footprint in daily activities. Encouraging enterprises to calculate and disclose their carbon impact, this initiative highlights the challenge for financial institutions to determine exactly how much carbon output can be attributed to financing.
Voluntary framework to guide the finance sector in tackling the challenge of climate change. They address the management of operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and provide direction on managing climate change in research activities; asset management; retail banking; insurance & re-insurance; corporate banking; investment banking & markets; project finance.
The EPs are a set of guidelines, based upon the Performance Standards and guidelines from the IFC, the World Bank's private sector lending arm for private banks to asesses and mitigate risks in project finance. Banks use the Principles to guide internal operating procedures for transaction for specific projects. Although the EPs are an important step to raise overall standards of financiers and projects in the developing world, they currently fall short on transparency and governance requirements.
The verification and full publication of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining is supported by the EITI. Financial institutions can participate and encourage resource-rich countries to support the initiative that aims to defeat poverty, corruption and conflict caused by weak transparency and accountability.
As the name suggests, the GRI aims to standardise good practice in transparency. GRI provides companies with guidelines to organise their annual report with reporting indices and standards addressing environmental, social and economic issues that business ought to address when telling the world about its performance.
The UN Global Compact is a set of ten principles that companies may sign voluntarily. Signatories promise to avoid complicity in human rights violations, adhere to labour standards, protect the environment and avoid corruption. The G8 countries urge companies to participate in this initiative, and with over 2900 companies signing up, the Global Compact has momentum. A voluntary and network based framework, the Global Compact actively promotes peer review and stakeholder participation.
UNEP is the 'voice of the environment' for the United Nations system, promoting international cooperation in the field of the environment. Issues concerning the financial community are addressed by the UNEP Finance Initiative which promotes investment in clean and renewable energy by financial institutions and other investors. Financial insititutions wishing to join must sign one of two Statements (for financial institutions and a separate one for the insurance industry).
UNPRI is a set of six principles direct institutional investors may adopt to consider environmental, social and corporate governance issues when investing. Voluntary and aspirational in nature, UNPRI has since its inception in 2006 attracted 200 signatories, representing US$8 trillion worth of investments.
Since the turn of the century a group of twelve banks known as the Wolfsberg Group have collaborated to improve ethical standards. The principles provide guidance on money laundering, corruption and the financing of terrorism. They have been produced to address deficiencies in areas 'yet to be fully articulated by lawmakers or regulators'.
Barclays' Environmental and Social Impact Assessment
Policy is not only applied to project finance transactions but also
to
other financing transactions "where there is a known application of
funds to a
potentially sensitive project". For these type of transactions an
Environmental
and Social Impact Assessment by an independent consultant is mandatory
and the
Equator Principles are applied. As Barclays does not make clear which
percentage of all financing deals in specific sectors is assessed in
this way,
no extra points are awarded for this broader application of the Equator
Principles.
-readmore-
Barclays has a
sophisticated procedure for Environmental
and Social Risk Assessment in Lending in place. As part of this
procedure,
Barclays has developed ten guidance documents for its credit officers
which
describe the main environmental and social risks in over fifty sectors.
The
content guidance notes "include an overview of each industry's
regulatory
situation, and guidance about the sort of measures we would expect
companies in
that sector to be taking to identify their risks and implement the
appropriate
actions and controls." Barclays has produced the following guidance
notes,
which are not published on the website but which are available on
request to
everybody interested:
Agriculture and
fisheries
Metals and mining
Oil and gas
Power generation,
supply and distribution
Chemicals,
pharmaceuticals manufacturing and bulk storage
General Manufacturing
Utilities and waste
management
Infrastructure
(including ports, pipelines and dams)
Service industry
Forestry and logging
The content of the guidance notes is generally close to the
international standards and best practices as described in this report.
Credit
officers are attended to the relevant issues, but no clear preconditions
for
financial services are set. The guidance notes are therefore regarded as
"policies without clear commitments" and scored with one point.
agriculture
0
1
2
3
4
5
arms industry and trade
0
1
2
3
4
5
fisheries
0
1
2
3
4
5
forestry
0
1
2
3
4
5
mining
0
1
2
3
4
5
oil and gas
0
1
2
3
4
5
power generation
0
1
2
3
4
5
biodiversity
0
1
2
3
4
5
climate change
0
1
2
3
4
5
corruption
0
1
2
3
4
5
human rights
0
1
2
3
4
5
indigenous peoples
0
1
2
3
4
5
labour
0
1
2
3
4
5
operation in conflict zones
0
1
2
3
4
5
taxation
0
1
2
3
4
5
toxics
0
1
2
3
4
5
accountability
0
1
2
3
4
5
transparency
0
1
2
3
4
5
headquarters
1 Churchill Place
E14 5HP London
United Kingdom
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
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BankTrack has identified controversial issues
with the companies listed below that require attention from Barclays.
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Elbit Systems is a military equipment producer with a focus on defense electronics like intelligence gathering systems. Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries contribute directly…
Founded in 1923, state-owned Eskom generates, transports and distributes approximately 95% of South Africa's electricity. That's a huge 60% of the total electricity consumed…
Recently, two big European electricity utilities, GDF Suez and International Power, have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the largest independent electricity…
Lockheed Martin is a global security company that is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology…
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) are the largest electricity producer in India. Their total installed capacity, including that under joint ventures, is close to…
India's National Hydroelectric Power Corporation has made a name for itself as one of the country's most ruthless corporations. As a state-owned company, NHPC has been able…
As Europe's second largest electricity generator and one of Europe's five leading gas and electricity companies, this German utility is another of energy and gas production's…
Textron is a multi-industry company, consisting of numerous subsidiaries and operating units. One subsidiary is Textron Systems, which is active in the defence, homeland…
Sweden's state-owned Vattenfall is Europe's fifth largest generator of electricity and largest producer of heat. Vattenfall delivers electricity to around 7.4 million customers…
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Veolia is a large French company that operates on a global scale. The company is operating in several areas such as water supply and water management, waste management, energy…
Cashing in on coal: RBS, UK banks and the global coal industry
Aug 01, 2008 | Platform
Report on the role in the last two years of the (RBS), HSBC and Barclays in providing and arranging the financial means to the coal industry to extract and burn vast quant
Letter to BankTrack as a response to BT letter of February 11, 2010
Mar 29, 2010 | Equator Principles Financial Insititutions, Citi
The first response ever to one of the letters BankTrack sent to the Equator Principles Financial Insititutions. It is a response to the BankTrack follow up letter after the meeting in Zuerich, February 4.
Jan 04, 2012 - 2011 was the year full of controversies. Our cyber satire unveils banks and bankers that talk green but invest in climate killer coal fired power plants.
Shameful investments: banks still funding cluster bombs
Oct 05, 2010 - Cluster bombs are banned under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, but 138 banks and other financial institutions are still investing over $20 billion USD in the producers of these indiscriminate weapons. Activists paid a visit to 2 of the top banks investing in cluster bombs in the UK, Barclays and HSBC, to call on them to disinvest.
www.stopexplosiveinvestments.org
Bangladesh Mine - Barclays Bank
Jun 29, 2009 - Activists from the World Development Movement attended Barclays' AGM to question the bank's involvement in the controversial Phulbari Mine project in Bangladesh.
headquarters
1 Churchill Place
E14 5HP London
United Kingdom
position top 1000 the Banker
In million US$. Ranking according to Tier 1 capital, as per definition Bank of International Settlements (BIS)
International website developed by BankTrack, CRBM, Les Amis de la Terre, Netwerk Vlaanderen, Platform, Setem and Urgewald.
Information in English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish.
