- Former UK Chief Scientist Sir David King criticises the Science Museum for fossil fuel sponsorship in the Guardian.
- A large group of leading scientists and former contributors to the Science Museum call the museum’s response to them ‘disappointing and patronising’ and call on it to engage with its critics in a ‘genuine and meaningful way’.
- Representatives of Indigenous communities impacted by Adani’s coal operations in India, Indonesia and Australia call on the Science Museum to listen to their concerns and drop its sponsorship deal, reports the Guardian.
News & Resources
- Over seventy Extinction Rebellion protestors stage a live art protest at the Lates event inside the Science Museum.
- Anna Phoebe and Space Rocks cancel their event at the Science Museum because of the Museum’s relationship with fossil fuel companies. Read more here.
- Channel 4 News reveal that the Science Museum’s contract with Adani Green Energy also includes a “gagging clause”, based on an in-depth investigation by Culture Unstained which revealed that the museum also nearly signed a sponsorship deal with 12 of the world’s biggest oil firms. Read more here.
- 60 leading scientists and museum contributors commit ‘not to work with’ the Science Museum Group until it announces a moratorium on accepting fossil fuel funding, reports the Guardian.
- Drs Steve and Dee Allen refuse to allow their work to be included in the Science Museum’s collection because of the institution’s links to Shell, the Guardian reports
- Two young people are barred from entering the museum less than a day after the Chair of Trustees promised to 'engage...with those who disagree with our position'
- Prof Christopher Jackson declines an invitation to be a museum trustee over environmental concerns.
- Former Trustee, Dr Sarah Dry reveals that she had opposed the museum’s decision to accept sponsorship from Adani.
- Mathematician and presenter Dr Hannah Fry and Director of the Institute for Research in Schools Dr Jo Foster resign from the museum’s Board of Trustees over its stance on fossil fuel sponsorship. Hannah explains her reasons in a Times comment piece.
- The Wangan and Jagalingou cultural custodians, traditional owners of the land where Adani is building a giant coal mine in Australia, speak out against the Adani sponsorship and museum Director Ian Blatchford’s dismissal of their concerns on BBC Radio 4
- BBC Front Row: Director Ian Blatchford is challenged over the sponsorship deal with Adani.
- UK Student Climate Network London organise a vigil and overnight occupation of the Science Museum to remember the victims of fossil fuel companies.
- On the day the Science Museum welcomes top investors in innovation for a Global Investment Summit, the museum and Adani announce their new sponsorship deal, provoking widespread negative media coverage - see the FT, Guardian, Independent and Sky for example. Extinction Rebellion’s protest highlights that the Science Museum is ‘doubling down’ on its ‘reckless’ choices of funder
- Former Science Museum director, Prof Chris Rapley CBE resigns from the Science Museum’s Advisory Board over the issue of fossil fuel sponsorship.
Young climate campaigners from UK Student Climate Network London request formally that their placards the Science Museum has on display be removed - and they are.
The museum is the target of Extinction Rebellion protests over the Shell sponsorship, with Scientists for XR leading a 70-strong overnight occupation of the museum, reports the Telegraph.
- Greta Thunberg criticises Science Museum in a tweet over Shell ‘gagging clause’
- Channel 4 news reports that the museum signed a ‘gagging clause’ with Shell.
Young activists are threatened with arrest after staging an after-hours occupation of the Science Museum in protest over fossil fuel sponsorship, reports the Guardian.
- Local residents led by Extinction Rebellion Hammersmith & Fulham maintain a weekly presence outside the Science Museum, giving flyers and stickers to the museum’s visitors and staging numerous theatrical performances over that period.