Barclays ended 2025 having facilitated a cumulative $260.7 billion of sustainable and transition finance since the start of 2023 – a 61% increase over the year and more than a quarter of the way towards its $1 trillion target for 2030.
Undoubtedly an international bank, much of that momentum is still anchored in the UK, where the bank holds leading positions in domestic sustainable debt, has grown project finance threefold since 2020 and continues to decarbonise its own operations faster than planned. A refreshed set of frameworks, products and training sits alongside the financing, giving the strategy reach across the corporate, retail and markets businesses.
In UK capital markets, Barclays reports first-place rankings for both UK ESG bonds and UK sustainability-labelled bonds in 2025, having worked on every green bond priced by the UK water sector during the year. Its project finance teams took lead roles across greenfield UK fixed-bottom offshore wind, including the £2.7 billion ($3.6 billion) Inch Cape financing off the Scottish coast and the £3.6 billion East Anglia 3 wind farm off Suffolk. In social housing, a £50 million retrofit facility for housing association Vivid was the first drawn under the National Wealth Fund’s £1.3 billion retrofit guarantee programme.
Retail lending scaled in parallel. The Green Home Mortgage has now advanced £7.1 billion since 2018, including £2.4 billion in 2025, and sustainable deposits, a fee-free green loan and farm transition finance have joined the product suite over the year. The bank also co-chaired the government-backed Willow Review into how UK SMEs can benefit financially from sustainability.
On its own footprint, Barclays cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 97% against a 2018 baseline, beyond its 90% target, and sourced 100% renewable electricity across its property portfolio.
Through Barclays Climate Ventures, it has committed £274 million to more than 20 climate technology companies, £71 million of it in 2025. Independent ratings validate its progress, with Sustainalytics upgrading Barclays to a low-risk 11.2 from 21.7, alongside an existing AA from MSCI and an A- from CDP.
