Due to the bank's support of fossil fuel projects, the director of Four Weddings and a Funeral is urging Wimbledon to sever its new sponsorship agreement with Barclays.
The Make My Money Matter advocacy group and Richard Curtis claimed that Barclays was "profiting from climate chaos.".
Wimbledon stated that Barclays was committed to ensuring that everyone has access to sports.
According to Barclays, it was one of the first banks to set the goal of reaching net zero by 2050.
In November of last year, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) named Barclays as the official banking partner of the Championships.
On Monday, the 2023 Championships will begin, and Curtis is one of the signatories to an open letter to the AELTC.
The campaign group Make My Money Matter, which Curtis helped co-found, sent the letter in an effort to change the financial system so that "people and planet are on a par with profit.".
It reads, "Barclays is Europe's largest fossil fuel funder, providing over $190 billion to the industry since the Paris Climate Agreement was struck in 2016." It is addressed to Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the AELTC.
Simply put, the letter stated that accepting a sponsorship deal from Barclays "is an endorsement of their actions, as they are funding and profiting from climate chaos.".
AELTC's decision to partner with Barclays, according to the advocacy group, is "not only bad for the environment, but also inconsistent with Wimbledon's cultural legacy and environmental policies.".
Your intention is to 'Sustain... The Championships in a way that ensures we have... positive impact on our environment,' as stated in your 2023 climate strategy. When it comes to what we can and cannot do, we will be truthful, open, and morally upright. '.
The letter states, "We do not believe support from Europe's largest funder of fossil fuels is consistent with this approach.
The All England Club welcomed Barclays as "the latest addition to our family of official partners," according to a statement.
"We are passionate about Barclays' commitment to ensuring that everyone has access to sports. Our desire to have a positive environmental impact is fundamental to how we conduct our daily business and is essential to staging a successful Championships. .
"We are fully committed to contributing because we recognize that this is one of the major challenges of our time. We're working hard to achieve a positive environmental impact across all of our operations, from using 100% renewable electricity and providing low-carbon options on our menus to sending zero waste to landfill and fostering a culture of reuse. ".
According to Barclays, working with clients and customers as they transition to low-carbon business models will allow it to "make the greatest difference as a bank, focusing on facilitating the finance needed to change business practices and scale new green technologies."
