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* Seeks gradual phase out of fossil fuel funding
* Fossil fuel, utility sectors in focus
* Bank may announce response before May 7 AGM - sources
By Simon Jessop and Lawrence White
LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - Jupiter Asset Management
, a top-25 investor in Barclays, plans to
support a shareholder resolution aimed at cutting the bank's
lending to the fossil fuel industry.
Banks are increasingly under pressure from policymakers and
investors to do more to help in the transition to a low-carbon
economy, as agreed by countries at a landmark United Nations
meeting in 2015.
The resolution, to be put to the bank's annual general
meeting on May 7, calls for Barclays to phase out financing to
companies in the fossil fuel and utilities sectors which are not
aligned with the goals of the Paris climate agreement.
A group of investors coordinated by responsible investment
lobby group ShareAction announced the planned resolution in
January. Since then, others, including Europe's biggest asset
manager, Amundi, have signalled their support.
This marks 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.
A Barclays spokesman said: "We continue to engage with
ShareAction and other shareholders on this issue and will make a
further statement at the appropriate time."
The bank may make an announcement before its shareholder
meeting in Glasgow to avoid a showdown vote with investors,
sources told Reuters.
Jupiter currently holds 1.15% of Barclays' shares, making it
one of the 25 biggest investors in the company, Refinitiv data
showed.
In a statement issued by ShareAction, Jupiter's head of
governance and sustainability Ashish Ray said the company
expected all company boards to appropriately manage long-term
risks to their business, such as climate change, and the
resolution was "entirely consistent" with that approach.
The disclosure of corporate plans to manage and mitigate
climate-related risks is a key focus of the United Nations'
incoming climate envoy, Mark Carney, and is expected to take a
central role at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow in November.
Carney is due to take over as U.N. special envoy on climate
finance this month after stepping down as Bank of England
governor.
Specifically, Carney is keen for companies to use the
Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
risk-assessment framework.
Jupiter's Ray said: "We firmly support the recommendations
of TCFD, which recognises climate change as a board-level issue
and seeks disclosure of strategic planning in relation to
climate risks, including practical responses to both physical
and transition risks."
Hedge fund billionaire and climate activism backer Chris
Hohn has written to Barclays and several rivals urging them to
reveal the scale of lending to the coal sector and classify
loans made to the sector as high risk.
(Reporting by Simon Jessop and Lawrence White. Editing by Jane
Merriman)
