Blow for Barclays as 20% of shareholders reject climate strategy

theguardian.com:

Shareholders dealt an embarrassing blow to Barclays’ climate credentials on Wednesday, with almost 20% rejecting the bank’s climate strategy as activists disrupted its annual meeting to protest against the bank’s financing of fossil fuels.

Barclays said on Wednesday that 19.19% of voting shareholders were against the bank’s climate strategy, which set out its plans and progress towards goals to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Nearly 11% also opposed the bank’s pay policy, after influential proxy shareholder adviser Glass Lewis raised concerns over the pay packet for its new chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan, which includes fixed pay of £2.7m and a long-term incentive plan worth up to 140% of his salary (about £3.8m).

It capped an embarrassing annual meeting for the bank, where climate activist groups, including Extinction Rebellion and its offshoot, Money Rebellion, set off alarms and glued themselves to chairs in order to avoid being removed from the Manchester Central Convention Complex.

Shareholders also disrupted the annual meeting held by Standard Chartered in London, amid concerns over the banking group’s climate track record.

Barclays chair Nigel Higgins instructed security guards to remove protesters after he was interrupted multiple times, and forced to delay the start of the event for nearly an hour.

“Barclays Bank is morally bankrupt,” one activist shouted. “Barclays has ploughed $160bn