Singing activists disrupt NatWest meeting over ‘climate backtracking’

‘Concerns about NatWest backtracking on its climate commitments’ led to some investors, such as the C of E pension board, to vote against Rick Haythornthwaite’s reappointment as director. Photograph: Ben TrittonView image in fullscreen‘Concerns about NatWest backtracking on its climate commitments’ led to some investors, such as the C of E pension board, to vote against Rick Haythornthwaite’s reappointment as director. Photograph: Ben TrittonNatWest GroupSinging activists disrupt NatWest meeting over ‘climate backtracking’AGM briefly adjourned after protesters wearing T-shirts labelled ‘No more big oil’ burst into songJulia KolleweTue 28 Apr 2026 11.22 EDTLast modified on Tue 28 Apr 2026 11.40 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleThe chair of NatWest was forced to defend the bank against accusations of “climate backtracking” at a chaotic annual shareholder meeting, which was temporarily suspended owing to singing protesters.Not long after the meeting began in Edinburgh, it was adjourned for about half an hour after a protester interrupted Rick Haythornthwaite’s opening speech.Protesters in the audience, wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with “No more big oil” and “No bombs”, then sang a song to the tune of Frère Jacques, with a chorus of “No more bombs, no more oil”. They appear to represent the campaign group Extinction Rebellion’s XR Money Rebellion, which has targeted NatWest and other banks for financing fossil fuel projects.When the meeting resumed, it was dominated by questions from shareholders about NatWest’s climate policies, as well as staff wages compared with bumper executive pay packets.Recent changes to the bank’s climate policy have included dropping a commitment not to lend to any oil and gas companies that lack a credible transition plan or fail to report their overall carbon emissions.View image in fullscreenA screengrab of some of the protesters at the NatWest shareholder meeting. Photograph: X/@money_rebellionMara Lilley, a representative of the Church of England pension board, said the C of E board was voting against Haythornthwaite’s re-election because of “concerns about NatWest backtracking on its climate commitments”.In response, Haythornthwaite, who began his career in energy working in exploration for BP said that, as “a geologist by background”, he was taking climate breakdown “very, very seriously as does all of this board”.He added: “We’ve had to wrestle with the questions of how do we balance supporting our customers in their [energy] transition efforts with managing the risk of what is an increasingly complex policy environment.”Haythornthwaite said NatWest retained two key goals: to halve its climate impact compared with 2019 levels (it is now at 39%) and to achieve net zero emissions from its financing by 2050. “Those commitments have not gone away.”He added that the bank, which provided £19bn in energy transition finance during the second half of 2025, was targeting a new goal of £200bn in sustainable lending by 2030.The NatWest chair said oil and gas financing was “only” 0.6% of the bank’s total lending, and NatWest would not invest in controversial projects such as shale oil and gas oil sands, or coal gas, methane or coal liquefaction.He described the company’s policy changes as a “slight shift” in its climate commitments, adding: “We feel that we found a pragmatic middle road.”However, investors disagreed. Jeanne Martin, from Share Action, said: “NatWest Group plays a key role in the economy’s…

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