Climate protesters who occupied the Science Museum over the weekend vowed further action against sponsorship links with the Adani Group, the world’s largest private coal producer.
On Friday, more than 30 scientists and youth activists camped out at the museum’s new gallery focused on climate change, which is sponsored by renewable energy company Adani Green Energy, part of the Adani Group, which has ties to coal mining and arms manufacturing. Protesters camped out at the museum throughout the weekend leading up to Energy revolution the gallery is closed to the public.
Campaigners say the sponsorship allows the Adani brand to “clean up” its business, which derives 60% of its revenue from coal, one of the most polluting fossil fuels. They were joined by BBC naturalist Chris Packham, who spoke to the group on Friday night. He described the sponsorship deal as “grotesque”: “To me, science is the art of understanding truth and beauty, and much of that beauty lies in the natural world,” he said: “Science tells us that the fossil fuel industry is responsible for the accelerating destruction of our natural world. A science museum is a place that ignites the imagination, provides answers, but also encourages us to ask questions. The question I ask today is a big one, why on earth do we allow a destructive industry to sponsor an educational exhibition while setting fire to the future of young people? It’s beyond green – it’s grotesque.
More than 30 scientists and youth activists camped out at the museum’s new climate change-focused gallery, which is sponsored by renewable energy company Adani Green Energy Credit: Andrea Domeniconi
When the sponsorship deal was first announced in 2021, it prompted trustees TV mathematician Hannah Fry and Jo Foster, director of the Institute for Research in Schools, to quit the board.
One of the scientists who occupied the museum, Dr. Aaron Thierry, has studied the impact of climate change in the Arctic. He criticized museum bosses and said the protests would continue: “What is particularly telling is the way the museum has responded to any challenges about this, even when their own trustees resigned from the board in protest, as if there was no answer to this. They just carry on regardless. We really need to start asking questions about what is going on at the management level of this institution. Why do they continue with such a partnership after ruining the reputation of the institution? we will continue to protest until they stop. We will not give up.”
BBC naturalist Chris Packham described the sponsorship deal as ‘grotesque’ Credit: Andrea Domeniconi
This was echoed by Ian McDermott, a chemistry teacher who has been involved in other protests but was not present at the weekend. He said he would no longer organize school trips to the museum: “I’ve organized several trips to the museum a year for decades, but I just don’t think it’s in the best interest of students to engage in the washing of companies that are destroying their future.”
A Science Museum spokesman said: “Climate change is the most pressing challenge facing humanity. In just three weeks since opening, we are delighted to have welcomed fifty thousand visitors to our new gallery on the urgent energy transition the world needs to see, made possible by generous sponsorship from Adani Green Energy, a major renewable energy business, last weekend there was a peaceful protest from a small group of activists, to which colleagues responded with great professionalism as a whole, together with governments, to meet this challenge.”