Bank chairs backtracking on climate commitments could face shareholder revolts
Bank chairs who water down their lenders’ climate commitments this year could face embarrassing shareholder revolts as campaigners try to hold bosses to account for environmental backtracking.ShareAction, a campaign group for responsible investment, will be issuing detailed reports to pension funds and asset managers in the coming weeks, outlining whether 34 of the world’s largest lenders are sticking to their climate goals.Its reports will closely analyse any changes in lenders’ environmental policies, which are usually published alongside their annual reports.The UK’s largest banks will be among the first under the microscope, with NatWest, Lloyds and HSBC all due to release their annual reports by the end of February.Barclays will publish its annual report on Tuesday.
ShareAction will call on institutional shareholders to vote against the re-election of any chair who they believe is overseeing a climate row-back,Those votes will take place at annual shareholder meetings, due to begin this spring,Kelly Shields, ShareAction’s senior campaign manager on its banking programme, said while this was unlikely to result in any boss being removed, it was a symbolic move that would send a personal message to directors,Shields is hoping to “slow down this trend of [climate] backtracking, and send a signal to the wider sector that backtracking comes with consequences”,“These directors are getting nodded through with 98-99% of the vote,” she said.
“Even a small amount knocked off of that can send quite a strong signal, and it does make it a bit more personal,That director hopefully feels responsible and feels emboldened to act, or at least engage with investors on the issue,”ShareAction’s campaign – which will involve rallying some new and existing supporters in the investment world – comes as banks and other financial firms come under fresh pressure over their green commitments since Donald Trump’s return to the White House last year,The Republican president’s anti-green agenda has emboldened rightwing climate deniers and fuelled a renewed push for oil and gas production, putting pressure on banks to ramp up financing for fossil fuel companies,It has notably led to a series of defections from the UN-backed net zero banking alliance (NZBA), which required members to ensure their policies would lead them to hit net zero emissions targets by 2050 or earlier.
The withdrawal of key NZBA members, including JP Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs as well as the UK lenders Barclays and HSBC, eventually led to the group’s demise in September,HSBC announced last year it was delaying important parts of its climate goals by 20 years and watering down environmental targets as part of a new long-term bonus plan for its chief executive, Georges Elhedery,“We really want banks to reassess this and do what’s needed to make sure that we’ve got long-term financial stability and are prioritising people and planet,” Shields said,
Team GB dreams of Magic Monday and a hat-trick of Olympic medals
High in the Italian Alps, where the thin air and oxygen deprivation often does strange things to the brain, British accents have started whispering about the possibility of Magic Monday – and Team GB winning three medals in one day at these Winter Olympics.And the craziest thing of all? It’s not entirely out of the question.Late on Sunday evening, Mia Brookes, the 19-year-old British snowboarding superstar, dug herself out of a hole with the help of Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera and Judas Priest to qualify third for the Big Air final on Monday.Before then, Team GB’s mixed curling team of Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds will play in their semi-final in the afternoon, knowing they are odds‑on favourites with the bookies having lost just one game, against Switzerland, in the group stages. Win their last-four encounter and they will guarantee a medal
Olympic figure skating music dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan resolved after ISU review
A politically charged dispute between the Olympic delegations of Azerbaijan and Armenia over figure skating music has been resolved after skating and IOC authorities reviewed the matter and the official program listing was amended.The International Skating Union (ISU) said in a statement to the Guardian on Sunday that it had examined the matter with relevant stakeholders. “The situation has been reviewed with all parties involved,” the ISU said. “The official names of the tracks that will be used are listed on the ISU website.”The change follows a complaint from Azerbaijan’s National Olympic Committee, which said it had raised concerns with the IOC over the Armenian pair of Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin’s planned short program to Artsakh, a composition by musician Ara Gevorgyan, who was born Yerevan, the capital of Armenia
Winter Olympics 2026: Vonn ‘stable’ after crash; luge, speed skating and more – as it happened
And that is me done for the night. Thanks for joining today and see you tomorrow for another packed day of Winter Olympics action! Leaving you on a bit of a cliff hanger with Team GB’s Mia Brookes yet to complete her final run in the women’s big air qualifiers. Fingers crossed!Lindsey Vonn was airlifted to hospital but is stable after crashing in the early stages of her women’s downhill run. The 41-year-old damaged her ACL when falling in a World Cup contest at Crans-Montana just over a week ago, but was determined to compete today. Starting as the 13th skier, Vonn clipped a gate and somersaulted off the course just seconds into her run
Trump calls Hunter Hess ‘a real loser’ for skier’s ambivalence about representing US
Donald Trump responded to Hunter Hess on Truth Social on Sunday, calling the Olympian a “real loser” and criticizing comments the US freestyle skier made in a press conference days earlier.Hess was asked in a press conference on Wednesday what it was like to represent the US in the Olympics given the current situation in the country, which has included ICE raids in Minnesota and a number of geopolitical crises. Hess said representing the US at the 2026 Winter Olympics brought up “mixed emotions” and that it was “a little hard.”“There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t,” he said. “I think for me it’s more I’m representing my friends and family back home, the people that represented it before me, all the things that I believe are good about the US … Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US
Feyi-Waboso a major doubt for rest of England’s Six Nations campaign
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso has been ruled out of England’s forthcoming pursuit of the triple crown and is a major doubt for the rest of the Six Nations tournament, while Steve Borthwick has fitness concerns over George Furbank and Ellis Genge as his team seek to end their Murrayfield hoodoo on Saturday.Feyi-Waboso pulled out of the 48‑7 victory against Wales 24 hours before kick-off after sustaining a hamstring injury and was replaced by Tom Roebuck. The Exeter winger will be out for “a number of weeks”, ensuring he misses the trip to Murrayfield and the visit of Ireland to Twickenham a week later. He has not yet been ruled out of England’s entire campaign but the chances of him appearing seem remote and he has been left out of the 36‑man squad called into camp on Sunday night.“Manny looks like he will be out for a number of weeks,” Borthwick said
‘It would have been a horrible one to lose’: Curran relieved after England’s Nepal scare
England flirted with one of the great T20 World Cup upsets in Mumbai before getting their campaign under way with victory against Nepal by four runs and, although they did not lose the game, Sam Curran insisted they had lost any sense of complacency.“We take those two points and take great confidence, because it wouldn’t have been a nice dressing room this evening,” said Curran, who conceded just five runs in the final over to decide the game.“I’ve played a lot of T20 cricket. When you win the close ones they’re actually the ones that give you a little boost and a bit of a smile on your face.“The associate nations are getting so much better
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