Liverpool FC, LeBron James and the Funding of Climate Pollution

When you walk through a storm

Hold your head up high

And don’t be afraid of the dark

At the end of the storm

Is a golden sky

And the sweet silver song of a lark…

The anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone sends shivers of pride and memories down my spine, and prickles the skin of my whole body with raw emotion, when sung by 50,000 passionate Liverpool Football Club supporters at the start of every home match at Anfield.

Liverpool’s marketing tagline this past season has been ‘We Are Liverpool. This Means More.’ It certainly feels that way to those of us who have followed the club through some sensational highs and devastating lows over the years.

But the anthem is losing some of its lustre. In a footballing sense, there is often a golden sky at the end of the storm. Liverpool fans have witnessed many awe-inspiring comebacks over the seasons as proof of this.

But in a literal sense —and in a climate emergency sense — that storm is only going to get worse, millions of people are going to be displaced from their homes, and Liverpool Football Club and its investors have to face up to their own role in the unfolding tragedy.

The missing link here is Standard Chartered bank. One of the biggest funders of fossil fuel companies in Europe, indeed the world. The shirt sponsors of Liverpool FC since 2010, in a deal worth an estimated £40m ($57m) a year.

And if you’re wondering what the link with American basketball giant LeBron James might be, his investment company RedBird Capital recently acquired an 11% stake in Fenway Sports Group (FSG) — Liverpool’s current custodians and owners of Boston Red Sox.

James was already a part owner in Liverpool FC, having been a keen supporter and season ticket holder.

His public, professional and commercial image is interwoven into a lifetime contract with Nike. It is important that he presents well.

Nike itself is in the second year of a long-term contract as kit supplier to Liverpool. Its own public image is a carefully managed beast.

But their reputations may now be tarnished by association with Standard Chartered.

Everything was running smoothly under the radar until climate activists very publicly named, shamed and targeted Standard Chartered — and Liverpool Football Club — in a series of demonstrations in May 2021.

What has Standard Chartered done wrong?

Standard Chartered plc has its headquarters in London, but runs more than 1,200 branches in over 70 countries. Around 90% of its profits come from its operations in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Standard Chartered CEO’s Bill Winters has been keen to put on a green front and is now chair to a carbon offset taskforce.

However, the actions of his company suggest a very different story.

Analysis by non-profit environmental and human rights organisation Urgewald found that:

• Standard Chartered funded the coal industry to the sum of $10 billion between Oct 2018 and Oct 2020;
• More than half of this was paid to developers of new coal plants.

Campaign group Market Forces has further claimed that:

• Standard Chartered has financed $31.4 billion to the fossil fuel sector since the Paris Agreement was signed;
• Standard Chartered is an active partner in a $400 million, five-year loan for global coal giant Adaro Indonesia;
• The bank has no restrictions on the oil and gas sector.

The Standard Chartered Sting

A complex organisation between activist groups staged a highly visual stunt in May 2021, which was taken right to the heart of Standard Chartered and Liverpool Football Club.

Young activists from Fridays For Future, the climate movement inspired by Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, set up a fake Standard Chartered website and Twitter account.

They announced a huge change in the bank’s climate policy, that would immediately stop the financing of fossil fuel and coal plant investments.

The ‘company’ also promised to hand out ‘recovery bills’ for the communities affected by coal projects financed by the bank.

Greta Thunberg herself tweeted: “Could this be true?” Many expressed joy at the bank’s commitments.

Of course it was all a carefully staged hoax. A press conference broadcast via Zoom on May 11 revealed four young women from Portugal, Germany, Argentina and the Philippines, all behind the hoax, all from the Fridays For Future movement.

Meanwhile, grassroots activists Brandalism put up more than 50 billboards and bus stop adverts across the city of Liverpool, drawing attention to the football club’s links with Standard Chartered, and the bank’s links to the fossil fuel industry.

Campaign group Market Forces also weighed in, promising to use shares it owns in the bank to lodge a shareholder resolution for the 2022 AGM, unless the bank’s policies on climate change improve.

So what has Standard Chartered said?

In September 2018, Standard Chartered released a statement saying: “The group is today announcing that, save where there is an existing commitment, it will cease providing financing for new coal-fired power plants anywhere in the world, following detailed consultation with a range of stakeholders.”

Actions have not appeared to support this promise.

Following the public shaming, aspokesperson for Standard Chartered said: “We’re supporting clients in their own transition to net zero, including through providing the capital and expertise they need to do so. Our climate risk management framework includes transition risk metrics and risk appetite which are being incorporated into our credit decisions.

“We intend to remain leaders in articulating a path to net zero by 2050. We are committed to detailed transparency on our transition strategy and plan to put it to a shareholder advisory vote in 2022,”

Urgewald responded: “What is positive about Standard Chartered’s coal policy is that it excludes companies with at least 5% coal share of earnings in 2030.

“On the downside, by then, the fate of our climate will already be decided. Stricter measures are needed much earlier.”

So will this really harm LeBron James, Fenway Sports Group and Liverpool Football Club?

The answer to this question might well have been ‘no’ — until the recent outrage over Liverpool’s plans to enter a European Super League, a breakaway league part-orchestrated by FSG and so probably with LeBron James involved in talks.

The perceived greed of the 12 clubs who threatened a breakaway, to form a league based on the American model where relegations are not a thing and big ‘brands’ are protected financially, was kicked out of the park by supporters in an incredible united protest.

FSG principal owner John W Henry was forced to apologise to Liverpool fans in a video message (below), only a year after he had backed down over plans to place staff at the club on furlough through the pandemic, which would have seen the government fund only 80% of their wages.

So will supporters feel the same about the club’s links with global polluters?

Tona Merriman, of Brandalism, said after the billboard campaign: “Liverpool have a fanbase that are proud of their progressive, working-class history and I think a lot of fans will disagree with the environmental crimes their main sponsor is committing.”

Liverpool FC had only in January made a public commitment to sustainability by launching The Red Way initiative, claiming “a sustainable future is our greatest goal”.

That promise does not sit well with the actions of sponsors Standard Chartered.

And in a threat to Liverpool, FSG, LeBron and in fact anyone viewed as fuelling the climate emergency, prominent climate campaigner Bill McKibben tweeted: “Get ready for much more of this — if your business plan undermines the earth, people will seek creative and nonviolent ways to undermine you.”

So what happens now?

On the pitch, deposed champions Liverpool staged a remarkable ten-match unbeaten run at the end of the season to finish third and qualify again for the lucrative European Champions League.

Off the pitch, much investment in the team is expected this summer to hopefully translate to more success next season. And that money will come from Liverpool’s partners, including Standard Chartered.

The impact of the pandemic was significant in Liverpool posting a £46m pre-tax loss when financial accounts were published in April.

The Standard Chartered sponsorship runs to the end of the 2022-23 season and is worth more than £150m ($212m) over the length of the agreement.

The bank’s money is vital in pushing the club on to further success. As a lifelong Liverpool fan, I personally want to see the best players at the club.

But contributing to climate pollution to such a sickening degree is too high a price to pay.

It will be interesting to see how the campaign against Standard Chartered and other banks develops.

And how FSG and LeBron James react to the expected outcry.

Hopefully they will be able to put pressure on Standard Chartered to change their polluting ways far quicker than they had intended.

The Liverpool anthem continues:

Walk on through the wind

Walk on through the rain

Though your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart

And you’ll never walk alone

You’ll never walk alone

The football club is a family. Nobody at Liverpool FC walks alone.

But something has to give here.

If Standard Chartered does not stop investing in the world’s largest polluters, the toxicity will stick to everyone associated with this famous club.

Mark Campbell is editor of greengreengreen.org