In September, as the UK government introduced sanctions on trade in illegal Israeli settlements, young people and teachers took action at a Science Museum ‘Star Trek Lates’ event to urge the Museum to end its relationship with the Adani Group, which produces weapons implicated in genocide in Gaza. Adani’s presence in the UK was also hit by protests as it held a meeting for its Annual Conference at the Grosvenor Park Hotel in Mayfair.
The Science Museum’s controversial relationship with major polluter BP is to end after almost 25 years. The decision follows a growing boycott over the Museum’s unethical sponsors. Pressure continues for the Science Museum to now also drop its coal and weapons giant sponsor Adani, and on the British Museum which is now the only major UK cultural institution still sponsored by BP.
64% of Science Museum staff disagree with the SMG’s decision-making on public programmes, sponsorship, and partnerships. A survey by Prospect union shows widespread “ethical concerns with controversial sponsorships impact staff pride, morale and motivation”.
New documents reveal BP’s disturbing influence and involvement in STEM education projects mounted by London’s Science Museum. Materials disclosed under FOI rules show how the oil and gas company chaired and had the power to veto decisions for a major research project which now forms the basis of the BP-sponsored ‘Science Museum Group (SMG) Academy’ for training teachers and educators in STEM.
In a significant shift for the culture sector, museums and galleries could soon be urged to ‘transition away’ from sponsorship deals with fossil fuel companies, as well as organisations involved in environmental harm and human rights abuses, under proposed new ethics guidelines.
Unions and groups representing scientists, teachers, parents and workers in the arts have called for those working in education and culture sectors to join a boycott of the Science Museum to demand an end to the Museum’s ongoing sponsorship arrangements with fossil fuel producers BP and Adani.
