By Virginia Furness

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays' group head of sustainability Laura Barlow has stepped down to pursue other opportunities, a spokesperson told Reuters, the latest senior reshuffle among Britain's top banks as the sector faces increased scrutiny over its climate efforts.

In November, the sustainability chief at rival HSBC departed after her role was dropped from the bank's executive committee, which sparked concerns that the lender could water down some of its climate commitments. Banks' climate efforts have come increasingly under the spotlight after several Wall Street lenders recently exited a U.N.-convened climate alliance.

Barlow, who was responsible for leading Barclays' efforts to align with the world's goal of limiting climate change and other sustainability objectives, retired at the end of 2024 to pursue a portfolio career but will remain a senior advisor to the bank, the spokesperson said.

Daniel Hanna, the bank's head of sustainable finance for the corporate and investment bank, has since taken on an expanded role as group head of sustainable and transition finance, the spokesperson said.

London-based Hanna reports to the Head of Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility, Matt Hammerstein; Co-Head of Investment Banking, Cathal Deasy; and Head of Global Markets Adeel Khan, the spokesperson said.

Before joining the bank in 2021, Barlow was head of large corporate and institutional banking at UK bank NatWest.

Under Barlow, Barclays early last year moved to restrict its lending to energy companies expanding fossil fuel production, although a report by campaigners still has Barclays among the 10 biggest providers of finance to the fossil fuel industry.

Barclays has also pledged to facilitate $1 trillion of sustainable and transition finance by 2030.

While shareholders and climate campaigners have broadly welcomed the banks' steps to curb finance to the world's most polluting sector, some Republican politicians have attacked lenders doing so in Barclays' key U.S. market.

A year ago, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Barclays would not be permitted to underwrite the state's municipal bonds after it failed to answer questions about its climate strategy. A bank spokesman at the time declined to comment.

Barclays made 31% of its total revenue in the United States in 2023, up from 25% in 2022, much of it from its trading business and credit cards, and it is keen to grow in commercial banking there, although the bank's spokesperson said the U.S. backlash played no role in Barlow's decision to leave.

(Additional reporting by Lawrence White; editing by Simon Jessop and Tomasz Janowski)