Barclays shareholders have been advised to back the bank’s own climate change policy, dealing a blow to a cohort of large investors which filed a landmark resolution calling on the UK lender to phase out financing for fossil fuel companies.

Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services — two of the world’s most influential shareholder advisory firms — have said investors should vote against a proposal put forward by the group earlier this year at the bank’s annual general meeting on 7 May.