New Scientist Live festival pulls fossil fuel links
'How far we succeed in limiting climate change depends on dismantling fossil fuel industry influence in our politics and culture.’
A leading science festival appears to have cut ties with major oil and gas companies after years of opposition. This year’s New Scientist Live festival – which took place in Manchester last weekend – had no fossil fuel companies as sponsors or exhibitors. The move is understood to signal a shift in policy, after BP was also dropped as both a sponsor and speaker from a New Scientist Live online climate event last September when several scientists due to speak at the event withdrew in protest. The news comes just weeks after the National Portrait Gallery and Scottish Ballet announced the end of their partnerships with BP.
Emma Garnett, a Cambridge researcher who pulled out of the New Scientist Live event last September in protest at its sponsorship, said: ‘I understand it is difficult for organisations to turn away funding. However, it is vital organisations refuse fossil fuel sponsorship because these companies are polluting our discussions as well as our planet. I think the evidence is incredibly clear: how far we succeed in limiting climate change depends on dismantling fossil fuel industry influence in our politics and culture.’
The arms company BAE Systems had previously been a lead sponsor of the festival but has also not been listed for the upcoming event. However, another arms company, Thales, has been allowed to exhibit at the festival.
The news intensifies the pressure on both the Science Museum Group and the British Museum to end their fossil fuel sponsorship deals, after most other UK cultural organisations have now cut their long-running ties with BP and Shell. The Science Museum Group has been heavily criticised for its partnerships with four fossil fuel companies, most recently for striking a new deal with Adani, which is heavily involved in coal extraction.
Oil and gas producers faced calls for a windfall tax after BP announced huge surging profits of an annual $12.8 billion. With many facing energy bills forecast to rise to around £3,000 a year, those most struggling will be forced to either ‘starve or freeze’, said Martin Lewis from Money Saving Expert.
