Campaigners disrupt NatWest AGM over “climate backtracking”

Environment campaigners have thrown a spanner into the NatWest bank’s annual general meeting over its “climate backtracking”. The ShareAction group and others have demanded protest votes against bank chair Rick Haythornthwaite at the meeting in Edinburgh today, 28 April 2026.

Natwest AGM disrupted

Campaigners say that the board must be held accountable for the bank loosening restrictions on lending to fossil fuel companies and its decision to abandon decarbonisation targets. The call has been backed by some of the bank’s major investors, including the Anglican church, which says it will oppose board members’ reappointment.

The financial scale of support for the move is significant. A ShareAction letter to the AGM demanding a meeting with bank bosses has been signed by investors holding over a billion pounds in value. These include the church, the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and investment management companies. A separate letter signed by seventy climate experts demanding a reversal of the damaging decisions is also being presented.

NatWest has changed its rules to permit lending to oil and gas companies that hold most of its assets abroad and has abandoned its commitment to only lend to companies that are ‘credibly’ transitioning to non-fossil fuels and transparently reporting on their climate impact. The bank made this move despite noting in its own 2024 company report that the lack of transparency was a major factor affecting its own ability to make proper decisions. Its 2025 report also boasted of the bank’s “new Environmental & Social (E&S) Energy Supply Sectors Risk Acceptance Criteria”.

NatWest also dropped targets limiting lending involving harmful building materials.

In 2025, NatWest awarded its chief executive a 33% pay increase, to £6.6m a year. It has also removed caps on executive bonuses.

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