Climate activists protest Barclays fossil fuel funding at Newark branch

Climate change activists are again protesting outside of a Newark bank.

Activists have strung bunting across Barclays in the Market Square, in protest of the bank's investments in fossil fuel firms.

Newark and Sherwood Extinction Rebellion have lead multiple protests at the bank, recently having Wellington from TV’s The Wombles visit to demand the bank stops funding fossil fuels.

In response to the protests, a Barclays spokesman said: “We are aligning our entire financing portfolio to support the goals of the Paris Agreement ­— significantly scaling up green financing, directly investing in new green technologies and helping clients in key sectors change their business models to reduce their climate change impact.

“By 2025, we will reduce the emissions intensity of our power portfolio by 30%, and reduce absolute emissions of our energy portfolio by 15%. Increasing at pace, our capital markets business has already facilitated £46bn of green finance.

“We are one of the only banks globally investing our own capital ­— £175m ­— into innovative, green start-ups. By deploying finance in this way, we are accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and will become a net zero bank by 2050.”