UCL Banking Campaign Article

The SB4S started at UCL, within the Sustainability Council. The Banking Task Force is thus the first campaign chapter in the UK. In addition to helping create resources for the SB4S national campaign, we have thus far taken several actions to make UCL more financially sustainable. 

One of our most important achievements has been successfully campaigning for UCL Students’ Union, one of the largest in the UK, to move its deposit accounts away from Barclays to more sustainable banks. Around £2 million were subsequently moved away from financing the fossil fuel industry. 

The SU has also taken a more proactive position on banking and the fossil fuel industry. In 2025, it passed a policy committing to actively support lobbying for UCL to switch away from Barclays; ban environmentally harmful banks from its events and partnerships.

BTF has also partnered with UCL Palestine Action to organise its first protest on the 7th May 2026, calling on UCL to move its banking services away from Barclays. 

We are also actively lobbying UCL via regular meetings with its finance team. Although the dialogue we have established and the continuation of these meetings are encouraging signs, we remain committed to maintaining pressure until UCL takes concrete action and moves its banking services away from Barclays.