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The London Science Museum has cut ties with BP after decades of campaigning by activists, scientists, and schools against the influence of major fossil fuel companies.
BP, a major oil and gas multinational best known for one of the worst oil spills in history and aggressive legal tactics, has sponsored the museum for over 25 years.
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As reported by the Guardian, the Science Museum Group Academy, which provides training and resources for educators, museums, and scientists, has said that its partnership with BP had “drawn to a close at the end of the current contract term.”
The news comes more than a year after BP, along with competitors Shell and Equinor, announced it would withdraw funding for renewables and double down on oil and gas. All three companies have sponsored the Science Museum Group.
It has been argued that the London Science Museum’s links with fossil fuel companies have affected how it addresses the climate crisis. When it accepted backing from Shell and Equinor, it signed contracts that included gagging clauses not to damage either company’s reputation, prompting accusations of greenwashing.
In 2021, Chris Rapley, a scientist and member of the museum’s advisory board, resigned over the issue. The same year, more than 40 senior academics and scientists wrote an open letter to the London Science Museum, stating that they would no longer work with the group “until it announces a moratorium on partnerships with fossil-fuel-producing companies.”
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‘The museum has finally come to its senses’
The London Science Museum has now cut ties with Shell, Equinor, and BP, but will continue to receive sponsorship money from Adani Green Energy.
The Adani Group is a major energy and coal mining conglomerate and has been accused of fraud, stock manipulation, use of shell firms, and bribery. When the museum first announced its deal with Adani, over 400 teachers pledged to boycott new exhibits over the museum’s several links to “the world’s biggest polluters.”
Chris Garrard of Culture Unstained told the Guardian that “BP’s commitment to climate action was never worth the paper it was written on but the Science Museum’s director passionately championed his partnership with the major polluter year after year.” He added, “Now, with the world facing droughts and wildfires and BP recklessly ramping up its production of dirty fossil fuels, the museum has finally come to its senses and followed the rest of the culture sector in cutting ties to BP.”
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