Time to Say Bye to Barclays
7 November 2026: Since 2022, climate campaigners (in particular Christian Climate Action) have been campaigning for the National Trust to switch its bank to a greener alternative. Its current bank? Barclays: Europe’s biggest fossil fuel funder, the bank that has poured at least £235bn into fossil fuel projects since the 2015 Paris Agreement, and continues to fund fossil fuels in a year of unprecedented droughts and heatwaves. At the National Trust’s AGM in November 2026, a motion was put forward to put the Trust’s banking partner out to tender: a practical first step in the complicated process of (hopefully) divesting from Barclays. And after four years of stasis and setbacks, this motion passed by an overwhelming majority: 53,257 for, 4,905 against. As the vote was announced, the Climate Choir rose to their feet and performed Helen Yeoman’s ‘We Got All the Love’, ending with ‘National Trust, Thankyou!’ – a rendition that brought warm smiles and applause from the board and attendees.
Prior to the AGM, the Climate Choir performed ‘Go Green’ (a rendition of Jolene) in the historic and beautifully echoey Great Western Rail Tunnel – serenading National Trust members as they made their way to the AGM venue. Afterward, the choir sang ‘We Got All the Love’ and ‘Go Green’, in front of Heelis, the National Trust’s HQ – congratulating them on an enormous step forward towards greening their operations – and an inspiration to other ethically minded institutions looking to switch away from Barclays.
Previously, the Northern Climate Choirs performed ‘Go Green’ at National Trust Longshaw, ten miles from Sheffield.