London Science Museum Ends BP Sponsorship After 25 Years

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The Science Museum in London has concluded its nearly 25-year partnership with oil and gas company BP, following sustained pressure over the museum's links to fossil fuel corporations.

The Science Museum Group (SMG), which oversees the Science Museum and five other institutions across England, confirmed on Friday, August 28, that the sponsorship would end on August 31“at the end of its agreed term.” However, The Times reported that the current agreement, initiated in 2018, had previously been described as a ten-year deal expected to continue until 2028. The SMG has been contacted for clarification.

BP's association with the museum spans almost a quarter-century and included sponsoring its former Energy Gallery and the 2015 exhibition“Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age.”

This decision follows years of criticism regarding the museum's relationships with fossil fuel companies. More recently, teachers pledged to boycott school trips to the museum until it terminated its partnerships with both BP and Adani. This boycott campaign received backing from the National Education Union (NEU).

Adani Green Energy sponsors the museum's Energy Revolution gallery and is part of the broader Adani Group, an Indian conglomerate that is the world's largest private developer of coal mines.

Daniel Selwyn, a geography teacher and member of the NEU campaign supporting the boycott, stated that BP's sponsorship had been a“shameful stain on its reputation for too long.” He added,“This victory has only happened because of the persistent and principled resistance of students, teachers, scientists and the wider community. This summer holiday from school has been defined by apocalyptic scenes of glacial collapses, droughts, heatwaves and wildfires. Evidently it has finally become untenable for the Science Museum to partner with one of the primary arsonists of the climate breakdown we are facing.”

Chris Garrard from the campaign group Culture Unstained also welcomed the announcement, saying the museum had“finally come to its senses.” Garrard noted that the Science Museum's director had“passionately championed his partnership with the major polluter year after year,” and characterized the end of the BP partnership as only a“partial victory” while the museum's relationship with Adani continues.

The controversy over fossil fuel sponsorship has previously led to prominent resignations at the Science Museum. In 2021, mathematician and broadcaster Hannah Fry and scientist Jo Foster resigned from SMG's board of trustees following discussions about accepting sponsorship from Adani Green Energy. Climate scientist and former Science Museum director Chris Rapley also resigned from the Science Museum Advisory Board due to its willingness to accept oil and gas sponsorship.

The museum's sustainability policy evaluates sponsors' progress toward the goals of the Paris Agreement. This international climate treaty, adopted in 2015, requires signatories to commit to limiting global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, while striving to keep it to 1.5°C.

In 2024, the Science Museum was compelled to end its sponsorship agreement with Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor after internal correspondence revealed that the company's business plans did not align with Paris Agreement goals, thereby breaching the museum's climate benchmarks.

The termination of the BP partnership aligns with a broader shift within the museum sector. Last October, members of the Museums Association approved a new code of ethics urging museums to“transition away” from sponsorship by organizations involved in environmental harm, including fossil fuels, and human rights abuses.

Pressure will now persist on the Science Museum regarding its ongoing sponsorship agreement with Adani Green Energy.

With SMG cutting ties with BP, the British Museum remains the only major UK cultural institution still sponsored by the oil and gas company. In 2023, the British Museum announced a £50 million, ten-year partnership with BP to support its redevelopment program, a move that prompted protests and criticism from scientists and campaigners.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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