A range of top celebrity names have called on Wimbledon to end it sponsorship deal with Barclays Bank over the financial firm’s extensive links to the oil and gas industry.
Richard Curtis, Emma Thompson and Deborah Meaden among others have lobbied the historic tennis tournament to put an end to its new sponsorship deal with the bank, in protest at its deep-rooted investments within the fossil fuel sector.
The celebrity coalition points out that the deal, worth a reported £20 million a year, could cause long-term damage to Wimbledon’s brand image and reputation.
In an open letter to the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s CEO Sally Bolton, campaigners wrote: “Put simply, Barclays is financing and profiting from climate chaos, and accepting a sponsorship deal from them is an endorsement of these actions.”
Signed by Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, retail consultant Mary Portas and climate activist Christiana Figueres, the campaign is also backed by Greenpeace UK, the Big Issue Group and Global Witness.
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The new deal was announced in November last year, following on from the tournament’s 15-year partnership with HSBC. The campaigners argue that this new agreement is ” “inconsistent with Wimbledon’s cultural legacy and environmental policies”.
Despite this controversy, Wimbledon has invested in a number of green measures to become more sustainable in recent years, including implementing a refillable water system on court for the first time in April.
Commenting on the campaign, Curtis said: “Barclays is Europe’s largest fossil fuel funder, providing over US$190bn to the industry since the Paris climate agreement in 2016. They are also a set behind their peers like HSBC and Lloyds: they’ve failed to rule out direct financing for new oil and gas, the most important commitment of all now.
“By agreeing a new sponsorship deal with Barclays, Wimbledon is damaging its reputation, failing to meet public expectations and endangering our wonderful green planet, that they’re meant to embody.
