To ESG or not to ESG? Britain's ‘Big Four' banks buck the trend of DEI retreat

Finextra

6 hours ago

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A counterbalance to claims of trans-Atlantic ESG de-prioritisation, Finextra's investigation into the UK's top financial institutions prove that some industries are keeping ESG front of mind.
On Sunday 6 June 2025, The Observer published an article in its business and economics section which revealed how leading British firms had 're-written' their yearly surveys, 'in the wake of Donald Trump's corporate crusade against diversity, equity, and sustainability.'
The investigation – which compared the 2023 and 2024 annual reports of 85 FTSE 100 companies for instances of terms related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as well as environment, social, and governance (ESG) – found that 'total mentions of DEI, along with the number of pages containing the phrase and variations on it, both declined by more than 16% on average.' The mentions of ESG, it added, declined by 22%.
The reporters – Barney Macintyre and Joe White – pointed to the 'large orange cloud' that has blown across the Atlantic, as the reason for this rather bleak regression in Britain's boardroom policies. Indeed, Amazon, Bank of America, Blackrock, Citigroup, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Google, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, Meta, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo have all been flagged by Forbes as having rolled back their DEI policies, in various ways. According to Macintyre and White, the US administration's hostile position on DEI and ESG – having sought to purge official documents of hundreds of 'woke' terms, and touted the 'drill baby, drill' agenda – may be legitimising similar moves in the UK.
The ESG pulse of UK banks
While the revelations of The Observer report are a concerning development for our FTSE 100, the outlook becomes quite different if we focus our sights on specific industries – especially the UK's financial services industry. Indeed, it appears that recent developments are a (far from insignificant) glitch in a broader upward trend.
To gain an insight into the health of DEI policy in our top institutions, Finextra conducted its own investigation, limiting the methodology to the 'Big Four' banks: HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, and NatWest. These institutions collectively hold a sizable share of the retail banking market – with estimates ranging from 68% to 85%, depending on the source consulted. Owed to their stature, these banks act as a bellwether for how the industry's position on DEI and ESG is moving.
For a contextualised view of this issue, Finextra's investigation looked at differences between the 2020 and 2024 annual reports of the Big Four. The year 2020 marked the commencement of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, as triggered by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police department. This was the cultural tipping point, when businesses all over the world rushed to champion diversity initiatives. In the Big Four's annual reports of 2020 and 2024, Finextra tallied the mentions of 'ESG', as well as several terms related to DEI, including 'DE&I,' 'DEI,' 'diversity,' 'equality,' 'inclusion,' and 'fairness'.
The results suggest a brighter picture than that painted by The Observer, of the FTSE 100. The Big Four averaged a 361% increase in mentions of 'ESG' between 2020 and 2024. This average was brought up in large part by Barclays, which mentioned 'ESG' 17 times in 2020 and 187 times in 2024 (an increase of 1,000%). NatWest's increase was the second highest, at 275%, though it mentioned 'ESG' the least number of times in both years. HSBC's increase came in at 181%, though it mentioned 'ESG' more times in both years than any of the other Big Four. Our research shows Lloyds may have mentioned ESG the least, with a reduction of 11%. However, this could fall within the margin of error.
On the DEI side, average mentions of related terms rose by 82% between 2020 and 2024, leaving some room for improvement – though still a significantly better outlook than other FTSE firms. Bringing the average up significantly was NatWest, having mentioned DEI-related terms around 28 times in 2020, and 118 times in 2024 (a 321% increase). The second highest increase was by Lloyds, at 24% – though it mentioned DEI-related terms more times than NatWest in both years. Barclays and HSBC reduced their mentions by 7% and 11%, respectively. Once again, these figures could fall within the margin of error.
Each of the Big Four were contacted for comment.
The link between a mention and an action
Of course, mere mentions of DEI and ESG do not always result in concrete policy – and sometimes even amount to greenwashing or ESG-washing. Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and NatWest have each been accused of some form of greenwashing in the last several years – some cases were more substantial than others. On 17 June 2025 HSBC was accused by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) of breaching its own coal phase-out policy by helping to raise $2.4bn in 2024 for companies expanding their coal operations.
As Pavita Cooper, UK chair of the 30% club (a global campaign to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels), put it in The Observer: 'Many organisations made declarations of public support in the days following the murder of George Floyd – very few made meaningful change.'
While use of the terms 'DEI' and 'ESG' are not (quite) legally binding, there may be a correlation between their acceptance into the public consciousness and the rollout of progressive policy in the long-term. This is the very reason Trump 2.0 aims to curtail the use of these phases.
In their 2024 annual reports, Barclays dedicates over 50 pages to describing its specific, target-bound climate strategy, and NatWest highlights ongoing initiatives around recruitment and attraction; leadership and retention; employee-led networks; as well as ethnic, gender, socio-economic, and neuro-diversity. In many of these cases, mentions of 'ESG' and 'DEI' are correlated with action – seeking to improve the institutional relationship with the environment, and make offices in the city more equitable.
In some areas, positive change has already filtered through. The World Economic Forum (WEF)'s recent report on the global gender pay gap, for example, reveals it is closing at its fastest rate since the pandemic – currently sitting at 68.8%. The WEF puts this down to 'economic and political advances', with women outpacing men in higher education.
As ever, there is still work to do, and the hope is that these trends continue in the long-term, rather than recede as a result of the US administration's policies.
Securing tomorrow's talent
It would seem that, at least within the banking community, the UK is carrying forward the torch of environmental and societal responsibility – as are only a clutch of storied US institutions of academia. But the DEI and ESG mission is not just music to consumers' and investors' ears; it helps firms mitigate transitional risk, keeps assets secure, and helps to engage the pipeline of future talent.
Cooper rounded off The Observer piece by pointing out that by 2034, Gen Z will overtake millennials in number within the workforce. This makes it even more important that institutions don't simply name-drop DEI and ESG-related terms in their annual reports. According to a recent survey, 43% of employees said they would quit their jobs if their employer rolled back on DEI policy. Clearly, the crusade against DEI is not entirely welcomed in the UK – particularly among specific subgroups, such as women, Gen Z, and millennials.
To counter the 'orange cloud', firms must offer more transparency around their ESG projects; stand as an example for smaller businesses; and show how progressive policies will serve the incoming wave of employees – none of whom have forgotten the lessons learned from the tragic case of George Floyd and the protests his death inspired.