Since the day Giraffe digital started trading, we’ve relied upon Barclays Bank to look after our money and handle our finances. However, as part of our commitment to lead the way as a sustainable digital agency and our commitment to net zero, regrettably we can no longer work with suppliers that don’t fit our green ethos or contribute to our ethical and sustainable values.
Barclays is Europe’s biggest investor in fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement (Banking on Climate Change report) providing 36% more finance than the next worst European banker (HSBC). From 2016-19 the company invested $118.1 billion in fossil fuels, and is the tenth biggest funder of fossil fuel expansion.
At its AGM in May 2020, over 75% of Barclays shareholders voted against a resolution to end the company’s investments in fossil fuels.
Barclays has also been heavily criticised for its links to deforestation in the Amazon. According to an Amazon Watch report published in 2019, 80% of Amazon deforestation is caused by cattle ranking and soy industry. Barclays has provided financial services worth millions to five beef and soy companies known for their links with deforestation.
As you can see, to continue doing business with Barclays in light of their unethical business practices, funding of fossil fuels, and lack of shift in attitude towards operating sustainably is unviable for Giraffe Digital.
We’re committed to operating as a green and ethical business through and through, and that means not only scrutinising our own practices to ensure we’re ethical and sustainable, but also choosing our suppliers carefully and ensuring we don’t work with companies whose morals are in conflict with our own.
It’s easy to feel as an individual you can’t do anything to make a difference against climate change, but you do have the power to make the correct choices, which in turn can impact on the big corporations who do have the power to influence real change. Red Giraffe currently has £1/4 million of transactions through Barclays Bank every year, and now that’s going to stop. We’ll be switching over to a different bank with immediate effect, who’s ethics, sustainability policies and commitment against fossil fuel investments align with our own values.
