Cambridge University could cut ties with Barclays after more than 200 years over the bank’s refusal to stop financing new oil and gas projects, according to the Financial Times.
It reported that Cambridge is looking for an institution with robust climate policies to manage “several hundred million pounds” in cash and money market funds – a mandate expected to cover more than £200m in assets and generate about £10m in fees a year.
The university said it was “exploring opportunities to find financial products that do not finance fossil fuel expansion” as part of its “net zero engagement strategy with the banking sector”.
Though Barclays has provided financing to the university for centuries, the bank was also the top European funder of fossil fuels between 2016 and 2022, according to a report by the Rainforest Action Network.
In September, Leeds University switched to Lloyds because it “has the lowest fossil fuel investments of any of the major UK banks”.
Cambridge’s students and staff have been demanding a greener lender and the university has already pledged to divest its £3.5bn endowment from all direct and indirect investments in fossil fuels by 2030.
“We’re dealing with people who are likely going to be leaders of tomorrow,” a college bursar told the Financial Times. “And the biggest of their concerns is climate change.”
