Barclays shuffles top bankers to beef up sustainability unit

Bloomberg

Barclays Plc is moving some top bankers to its new sustainability teams as it seeks to gain a larger foothold in providing financing and advice for activities that help mitigate climate change.
Justin Peagram, previously a managing director in the natural-resources group, will now focus on sustainable energy and other emerging-growth areas as part of the sustainable and impact-banking group, Barclays said. Greg Cass and Atul Jhavar will lead the green, social and sustainability debt-financing units for investment-grade clients in the Americas and
Asia-Pacific region, respectively.
“We see a huge opportunity as energy transitions to get on our front foot and work with growth-oriented clients across renewables and other parts of the environmental spectrum,” Joe McGrath, global head of banking at Barclays said.
Barclays has been a frequent target of climate activists because of its role in providing finance to some of the world’s biggest polluters. Still, earlier this year the bank received shareholder support for a proposal that it would eliminate much of its carbon footprint from its own operations, such as heating and cooling buildings, and also from the activities it finances.
The bank and its rivals have been focused on helping the firms they advise produce less carbon-based emissions amid public outcry over impacts climate change has had on planet. In first six months of year, Barclays grabbed the No. 2 spot in the league tables for book runners on sustainable bonds, up from ninth place a year earlier.
Barclays has raised more than $86 billion in bonds and loans for energy companies, excluding solar, wind and other renewable producers, since the end of 2015, more than any bank in Europe, according to data by Bloomberg.