As chairman Rick Haythornthwaite was delivering his opening speech, demonstrators sang and made statements challenging the bank’s approach to climate change.

At the centre of the controversy was a statement presented by ShareAction, backed by investors managing around £1 trillion in assets – among them the Church of England Pensions Board, Greater Manchester Pension Fund and Rathbones Investment Management, Independent reports.

The group expressed concern that NatWest had “reduced the ambition of its fossil fuel policy and climate targets”, citing in particular the bank’s decision to drop its commitment not to finance oil and gas companies lacking a credible transition plan or failing to disclose overall emissions.

Shareholders called on Mr Haythornthwaite to meet with the group to discuss the bank’s climate strategy, whilst campaigners including ShareAction urged fellow investors to vote against his re-election – a course of action the Church of England’s pensions body confirmed it intends to take.

Mr Haythornthwaite pushed back against the characterisation of retreat, insisting he takes climate change “very seriously, as does all of this board” and expressing willingness to meet the investor group.

He acknowledged the difficulty of balancing customer support during the energy transition against an “increasingly complex policy environment”.

The chairman stressed that the vast majority of the bank’s lending is directed towards renewables, with oil and gas financing accounting for just 0.6% of total lending.

He also pointed to NatWest’s retained target to at least halve the climate impact of its financing activity by 2030, against a 2019 baseline. “I don’t want to take what sounds like a backtracking as a major shift,” he said, adding that “these targets matter”.

The bank’s AGM continued and Mr Haythornthwaite secured his reelection with 92.09% of the cast votes in his favour.