Sheffield Students’ Union has approved plans to switch banking from NatWest this academic year, following a successful Trustee Board motion.
The decision followed pressure from the Students’ Union Council on the importance of ethical banking arrangements. Many students felt NatWest did not reflect these values.
NatWest is controversially engaged in fossil fuel investments and tropical deforestation; in 2025, the Forest 500 annual report identified NatWest for having weak disclosure regarding its approach to deforestation and environmentally degrading practices.
A specific timeline has not been confirmed yet for this switch. Anna James, the Students’ Union Sustainability and Development Officer, said: “I think the main logistical challenge is the capacity of our finance team to change banks as we have just moved financial systems.”
Despite this positive step, students on SU Council have expressed concern about the university’s continued investment of endowment funds in environmentally unethical banks, with the most significant investments being in Barclays, JP Morgan, and BlackRock.
According to the Banking on Climate Chaos 2025 Fossil Fuel Finance Report, Barclays is the largest European financier of fossil fuels, investing over $35.5 billion in fossil fuel infrastructure in 2024 alone.
Barclays has come under further fire for bankrolling arms companies supplying military support to Israel, with a 55% increase in funding since 2021.
Many students argued that banks, like Barclays, directly contradict the university’s endowment investment policy, which promises to “invest its funds on a socially responsible basis.”
A University of Sheffield spokesperson said: “Our endowment portfolio does include investments in major financial institutions. While these are not fossil-fuel companies, our investment managers apply ethical screening and active stewardship to ensure the endowment is managed responsibly, including engagement with global banks on climate-risk disclosure and alignment with net-zero transition planning.”
Miss James told Forge, “For me, the issue is the indirect impact and how to mitigate that. The university could be increasing its investments in socially responsible things like local charities and the local community. I think the main goal for me is to encourage the university to look at banks in a different light.”
Although the University of Sheffield officially divested from fossil fuels in 2019, continued investment in endowment funds in these banks raises the question of whether any positive impact achieved is neutralised.
These concerns have been a key topic of discussion within the student body for years.
Miss James underlined that the move to change the SU’s banking choice opens a dialogue about ethical banking at the university, which is a key objective for her term going forward.
A spokesperson for the university told Forge that the July 2025 endowment portfolio, soon to be published, held only an investment in BlackRock, suggesting that the initial dialogue on achieving more environmentally ethical investments has been successful so far, despite work still to be done.
A spokesperson from the Environmental Science Society said: “We hope that the university makes more of an effort to educate itself on the intentions of large stakeholders and reduce its support in any companies which invest in unethical environmental practices, and to focus its efforts towards a more localised and green economy.”
A University of Sheffield spokesperson said: “We recognise the strong interest students have in this issue and remain committed to open, constructive discussions through the Students’ Union and other forums.”
