British Museum and Science Museum under increasing pressure to scrap BP sponsorship after oil giant drops climate targets

A spokesperson for the British Museum said “we need corporate and private donations from companies like BP to ensure that the magnificent collections stays on display to the public for centuries to come” Photo: chrisdorney
The two remaining British museums still receiving sponsorship money from the fossil fuel company BP have been urged to end the relationship after the oil giant ditched plans to develop more renewable energy.
Over the past decade at least 15 UK cultural institutions have ended sponsorship deals with fossil fuel companies, with the British Museum and Science Museum the last two still prepared to take money from companies selling coal, oil and gas. Tate, the Royal Opera House, the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Shakespeare Company were previously part of a block sponsorship by BP but have all now rejected fossil fuel funding.
The campaigns and research organisation Culture Unstained advocates against museums and galleries “artwashing” the activities of fossil fuel companies through sponsorship deals.
In a statement it said: “Before this week, BP was already falling well short of internationally agreed climate targets due, in large part, to its significant investments in new oil and gas drilling. Now, BP has abandoned any pretence of caring about the climate or the communities in which it operates. In ditching its past plans to cut production in order to now ramp up investments in more oil and gas, BP has made it abundantly clear that its billions in profits will always come before people and the planet.”
They added that with BP dropping its target to cut oil and gas production these sponsorship deals were now untenable: “With BP now brazenly recommitting to dirty fossil fuels, cultural organisations such as the British Museum and Science Museum must urgently move to end their sponsorship deals with the major polluter. The British Museum’s decision to sign up to a 10-year partnership with BP was indefensible when it was announced just a year ago but now it is clearly untenable. As climate impacts such as wildfires, hurricanes and flooding intensify, these museums will appear even more out-of-touch, and particularly with the concerns of younger generations. The boards of both institutions must urgently think again as the huge harm to their reputations that will be brought about by choosing to back BP—especially after this environmentally reckless change in business plans—should not be underestimated.”
The Science Museum Group has a sustainability policy that requires sponsors to be on a pathway aligned to the carbon reduction targets outlined in the Paris Agreement. This week, however BP said that all its previous goals have now been scrapped. The museum refused to comment on this particular point, instead pointing to the pathway assessment—which will now be out of date—and defending the sponsorship. A spokesperson said: “The sponsorship we receive from a wide range of funders, including BP which supports the Science Museum Group Academy, is vital to our mission to inspire millions of people every year.”
The British Museum’s Policy on Sustainable Development says it will “incorporate sustainable development issues into future policy decision making at all levels”. Despite this, a spokesperson for the museum said that its position on BP sponsorship was unchanged: “The museum is embarking on the most exciting and ambitious redevelopment project in its 270-year history, modernising its iconic buildings which are in urgent need of renovation. Significant financial support is vital for this to proceed, and we need corporate and private donations from companies like BP to ensure that the magnificent collections stays on display to the public for centuries to come.”
Joanna Haigh, the emeritus professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London, says the time had come for the museums to follow the rest of sector. She tells The Art Newspaper: “Museums are intended to benefit society, but by partnering with BP, the British Museum and the Science Museum provide social licence and political cover for one of the most harmful industries on the planet. This latest announcement from BP shows rampant disregard for our shared future and for the vulnerable people living with ever more extreme weather.
“Other cultural institutions have rightly made the stand to ensure they will not be used to greenwash the climate crisis, and it's long overdue that the British Museum and the Science Museum joined their ranks.”
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