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* ShareAction to coordinate shareholder resolution
* First such climate resolution aimed at a European bank
* Follows similar resolutions at large oil companies
By Lawrence White and Simon Jessop
LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - A group of Barclays
shareholders coordinated by responsible investment lobby group
ShareAction want the bank to phase out financing fossil fuels,
stepping up pressure on one of Europe's biggest funders of the
sector.
Eleven institutional investors have filed a resolution to be
voted on at Barclays' annual meeting in May, requiring the bank
to set out plans to stop providing all financial services to
firms not aligned with the Paris climate agreement.
The pressure on Barclays comes at a time when shareholders,
prompted by activists and mounting public concern, are
increasingly urging the companies they invest in to do more to
combat the climate crisis.
Up to now, investors have largely focused their collective
efforts on big oil and gas companies responsible for producing
fossil fuels, with resolutions at companies including Royal
Dutch Shell, BP and Equinor.
The Barclays resolution will mark the first time a European
bank has faced such shareholder action on fossil fuel financing.
It calls on Barclays to go further than its previous public
commitments to combat climate change by forcing it to set
specific targets.
The move comes just days after outgoing Bank of England
governor Mark Carney said the financial services industry had
been too slow to cut investment in fossil fuels.
Carney is set to leave the BoE at the end of January to take
up a position as the United Nations special envoy for climate
action. He has previously warned that global warming could lead
to a sharp reassessment of the value of every financial asset.
The eleven investors publicly backing the Barclays
resolution collectively manage some 130 billion pounds ($171.39
billion) and include Brunel Pension Partnership, LGPS
Central, Sarasin & Partners and Folksam.
"The lending practices of many banks pose a serious threat
to the goals of the Paris agreement," said Laura Chappell, Chief
Executive of Brunel Pension Partnership.
"We hope the Barclays Board formally supports this
resolution."
One of the bank's 20 biggest shareholders told Reuters they
could also back the proposals.
"We've said to Barclays we would be minded to support this
type of resolution, so you'd better take it seriously," the
investor said.
A formal vote on the measures at the May meeting might not
be needed if the bank announces measures beforehand that satisfy
the investors' demands.
"We are working to help tackle climate change, and we meet
with ShareAction and other shareholders regularly to update them
on our progress," a spokesman for Barclays said.
($1 = 0.7585 pounds)
(Reporting by Lawrence White and Simon Jessop. Editing by Jane
Merriman)
