Climate protesters who occupied the Science Museum during the weekend have promised further action over its sponsorship links with the Adani Group, the world’s biggest private coal producer.
On Friday more than 30 scientists and youth activists camped out in the museum’s new climate-change-focused gallery which is sponsored by renewable energy company Adani Green Energy, a part of the Adani Group which has ties to coal mining and arms manufacturing. The protesters set up camp inside the museum throughout the weekend leading to the Energy Revolution gallery being closed to the public.
The campaigners say that the sponsorship is allowing the Adani brand to "greenwash" its business which derives 60% of its revenues from coal, one of the most polluting fossil fuels. They were joined by BBC naturalist Chris Packham, who spoke to the group on Friday evening. He described the sponsorship deal as “grotesque”: “For me science is the art of understanding truth and beauty and a lot 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. The Science Museum is a place to spark imagination, to provide answers but also to encourage us to ask questions. The question I’m asking today is a big one, why on earth are we allowing a destructive industry to sponsor an educational exhibition whilst simultaneously setting fire to young people’s futures? This is beyond greenwash—it’s grotesque.”
More than 30 scientists and youth activists camped out in 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 led to trustees TV mathematician Hannah Fry and Jo Foster, the director of the Institute for Research in Schools, to quit the board.
One of the scientists that occupied the museum, Dr Aaron Thierry, has studied the impact of climate change in the Arctic. He criticised museum bosses and said protests would continue: “What's particularly telling is the way that the museum has reacted to any challenges about this even when their own trustees resigned from the board in protest, it's as though there's no response to that. 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 are they continuing with a partnership like this when they're ruining the reputation of the institution? we're going to keep protesting until they stop. We're not going to give up.”
The 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 wasn’t present at the weekend. He said he will no longer organise school trips to the museum: “For decades I ran a couple of trips to the museum a year, but I just don’t think it’s in the students’ interests to engage with the greenwashing of the companies destroying their futures.”
A Science Museum spokesperson said: "Climate change is the most urgent challenge facing humanity. In just three weeks since opening we’re pleased 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 by a small group of activists which colleagues responded to with great professionalism. Globally, massive growth in renewable energy is required and we need the energy sector as a whole, alongside governments, to step up to this challenge."