Financing the transition
The financial sector has an important role to play in supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy and we are determined to play our part. We are deploying financing to help scale-up the necessary activities needed in the transition to net zero and working with our clients to support their transition.
Barclays has two financing targets:
- To facilitate $1trn of Sustainable and Transition Financing for clients between 2023 and the end of 2030.
- To invest up to £500m of our own capital into global climate tech start-ups by the end of 2027.
Our progress
£113.7bn
of green financing facilitated between 2018 and 2023 exceeding our target to facilitate £100bn of green financing by 2030.
$123.8bn
of Sustainable and Transition Financing mobilised as at H1 2024, as part of our target to facilitate $1trn Sustainable and Transition Financing by the end of 2030.
£166m
invested into over 20 innovative climate technology companies as at H1 2024, through our Barclays Climate Ventures mandate to invest up to £500m of our own capital by 2027.
$1trn Sustainable and Transition Financing
Our target to deliver $1trn of Sustainable and Transition Financing encompasses the green, social, transition and broader sustainability-linked financing for clients including corporates, governments and the public sector, financial institutions, and consumers.
Barclays defines Transition Finance as any financing including lending, capital markets and other financing solutions provided to clients for activities – including technologies – that support greenhouse gas emissions reduction directly or indirectly in high-emitting and hard-to-abate sectors towards a 1.5°C pathway.
$123.8bn of Sustainable and Transition Financing has been mobilised as at H1 2024, as part of our target to facilitate $1trn of Sustainable and Transition Financing by the end of 2030.
Find our Sustainable Finance and Transition Finance Frameworks below.
£500m investment in climate tech
Our Barclays Climate Ventures mandate is to invest up to £500m of own capital in climate tech start-ups between 2020 and 2027, helping to accelerate the transition towards a low-carbon economy.
Since launch in 2020, our investments have supported many aspects of climate tech innovation, from property retrofit solutions to long-duration energy storage and hydrogen technologies. We have invested £166m into over 20 innovative companies as at H1 2024.
The Barclays Climate Tech Escalator
The Barclays Climate Tech Escalator is a connected pathway across the whole of Barclays, giving climate tech businesses access to a wealth of insight, support, and opportunity, enabling them to benefit from the financing and support needed to close the climate finance gap and grow from idea to IPO. The Barclays Climate Tech Escalator accelerates the growth of climate tech businesses on a mission to decarbonise the global economy.
The climate tech businesses benefit from the breadth of Barclays’ reach, our ecosystem of products, expertise, and unique position within the global economy with products and solutions to support them for next level growth.
“We have a huge opportunity to work with our clients, fast growing and established, as they decarbonise and scale low-carbon technologies, infrastructure, and capacity. It is clear there is an urgent need for transition finance to support real world decarbonisation whilst simultaneously scaling the technologies and ultimately solutions of tomorrow.”
Daniel Hanna, Group Head of Sustainable & Transition Finance
In action
In 2023, Barclays provided approximately £100m in loans and CPI, IRS & FX hedging to support the Moray West offshore wind farm, developed by Ocean Winds. Once constructed, the project is expected to provide a secure, reliable source of energy to supply the equivalent of 50% of Scotland’s domestic electricity – the same as the power needs of up to 1.33m homes.¹
¹ Moray West, Offshore Wind Farm Project
In April 2023, Ohmium International, a leading green hydrogen company that designs, manufactures and deploys advanced proton exchange membrane electrolyser systems using renewable energy to produce pressurised high-purity green hydrogen, partnered with teams across Barclays’ Corporate and Investment Bank to help successfully close a $250m Series C growth equity financing round.
Barclays served as Placement Agent to Ohmium on the capital raise. The funding will be used to support Ohmium’s expansion to 2GW in annual manufacturing capacity and the deployment of projects for the company’s growing global customer pipeline in key regions.
The investment will also provide significant capital to scale Ohmium’s business, including accelerating its pioneering research and development programmes to reduce the cost of green hydrogen production.
