UK Bank Says it will no longer make controversial oil and gas drilling investments in Arctic oil

January 15, 2019

It appears that some international banks are pulling out of drilling in the Arctic due to violations of international human rights standards: https://www.arctictoday.com/barclays-says-it-will-no-longer-make-controversial-energy-investments-including-in-arctic-oil/.

According to the article, Barclay’s has adopted “Self-imposed restrictions on investment in fossil fuels which prevent it from financing new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, including in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.” And this recent announcement follows after another one “in May that directs the bank to avoid doing business with clients involved in projects in or near UN World Heritage sites.” Also, “projects singled out in the bank’s guidelines may still be funded by the bank “as long as they pass a tougher vetting process it calls Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD).”

But based on the fact that those guidelines singled out the potential for Arctic drilling to damage coastal and marine environments as a major concern, in particular and the ANWAR an area it described as a “particularly fragile and pristine ecosystem which is central to the livelihoods and culture of local indigenous peoples,” the likelihood of a project being approved is low, according to the bank.

Based on the policy’s pronouncement that “[b]anks have an important role to play in ensuring that the world’s energy needs are met while helping to limit the threat that climate change poses to people and to the natural environment,” Barclays says that the new guidelines will keep it out of “sensitive energy sectors” entirely.

The release of the policy may have also been in response to the Trump administration’s continued push for the expansion of oil drilling on sensitive, federally owned lands in Arctic Alaska, even as a partial shutdown halted the functions of many U.S. government departments, forcing the Department of the Interior to stop regulating existing oil and gas leasing: https://www.arctictoday.com/trump-administration-working-on-arctic-oil-leases-despite-shutdown/.

According to Banktrack, a group that is lobbying for banks to become more socially responsible, Barclays is the 12th major bank to limit funding for Arctic oil and gas exploration.

Photo by Lisa Seff, Courtesy of ARCUS