By signing the following open letter, you are committing not to work with the Science Museum Group again until it announces a moratorium on partnerships with fossil-fuel-producing companies - this means publicly committing not to renew any existing contracts when they expire, or to form any new ones. We encourage anyone who has worked with the SMG in the past, or may potentially be invited to in the future, to sign. Your signature will appear publicly here:
https://cultureunstained.org/open-letter-to-the-science-museum/==================
The letter:
Dear Science Museum Group Senior Leadership Team and Trustees,
We are deeply concerned that the Science Museum Group is undermining its reputation as a group of leading scientific and educational institutions by partnering with oil and gas companies Shell, BP and Equinor, and now Adani, a conglomerate involved in coal. We are in a climate crisis and should not be doing anything to legitimise those companies that are still driving up emissions by exploring for and extracting new sources of fossil fuels when the science is clear that we need to be leaving them in the ground. We are particularly concerned by the impacts of their oil, gas and coal extraction on Indigenous communities around the world, and on the futures of the young people who form such an important part of your audience.
Many of us have excellent personal relationships with the talented and committed members of staff that deliver the Science Museum’s programme but we can no longer be complicit in the policies adopted by the Group’s senior leadership and trustees. With sadness therefore, we commit not to work with any organisations in the Science Museum Group until it announces a moratorium on partnerships with fossil-fuel-producing companies. This means publicly committing not to renew any existing contracts when they expire, or to form any new ones until, at the very least, the company demonstrates a credible plan for phasing out fossil fuels in line with the Paris 1.5°C target.
We hope that the Senior Leadership Team and Trustees of the Science Museum Group will appreciate this is not an easy decision for us to make. It means a loss of income for us as companies and freelancers, and reduced opportunities for audiences to engage with and be inspired by our work. But until the SMG changes its position and its primary sponsors we cannot, in good conscience, partner with you.
Signed:
Dr Deonie Allen, researcher, University of Strathclyde Glasgow
Dr Steve Allen, Dalhousie University Canada, University of Birmingham UK
Kirsti Ashworth, Researcher in Atmospheric Sciences, Lancaster University
Margrete Auken, Member of the European Parliament
Wolmet Barendregt, Eindhoven University of Technology
Dr Tom Barker, Graduate School of the Environment, Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales
Heather Barnett, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London
Simon Batterbury, A/Prof, University of Melbourne and Visiting Prof, Lancaster University
Mike Berners-Lee, Professor of Sustainability, Lancaster University
Dr. Kenneth John Bignell, Imperial College
Dr Alex Bush, Lancaster University
Professor Paul Chatterton, University of Leeds
Dr David L Clements, Reader in Astrophysics, Imperial College London
David Cross, Reader in Art and Design, University of the Arts London
Prof Mathias Disney, Professor of Remote Sensing, University College London Dept of Geography
Graeme Eddolls, University of Glasgow
Paul Ekins, Professor of Resources and Environmental Policy, University College London
Eleonora Evi, MEP
Professor Neil Forsyth
Dr Alison Green, Executive Director, Scientists Warning Foundation (
www.scientistswarning.org)
Professor Chris Griffiths, Professor of Primary Care, Co-Director, Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research, Queen Mary University of London
Dr Emily Grossman, science author, broadcaster and public speaker
Dr Sedat Gundogdu, Chief Scientist, Microplastic Research Group, Cukurova University
Joanna Haigh, Emeritus Professor of Atmospheric Physics, Imperial College London
Dr Jordan Harold, Lecturer, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and University of East Anglia, School of Psychology
Christopher Haydon, Theatre Director
David Humphreys, Professor of Environmental Policy, Open University
Prof Kate Jeffery, Professor of Behavioural Neuroscience, UCL
David A. Kirby, Professor of Science, Technology and Society, Cal Poly University
Prof Georgy Koentges, University of Warwick, Professor of Biomedicine and Evolution
Sam Langford, Science Communicator & Engagement Consultant
Esther Lie, Engagement professional, King’s College London
Jack Lowe, Artistic Director/CEO curious directive theatre company
Rebecca Manson Jones (Artistic Director) & John Holmes (Executive Director), Spare Tyre Theatre
Dara McAnulty, Naturalist, Author and Environmental Campaigner
Jim McCambridge, Professor, Dept of Health Sciences, University of York
Bill McGuire, Professor Emeritus in Geophysical & Climate Hazards, UCL
Professor Susan Michie, Professor of Health Psychology
George Monbiot, journalist, author, environmental activist
Jenny Nelson, Professor of Physics, Imperial College London
Chris Packham, naturalist and broadcaster
Dr Stuart Parkinson, Executive Director, Scientists for Global Responsibility
Professor Rona Patey, University of Aberdeen
Zephyr Penoyre, Researcher in Astrophysics, University of Cambridge
Kira Marie Peter-Hansen, Member of the European Parliament
Robert Pollin, Distinguished University Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Professor Megan J Povey, University of Leeds
João Queiroz, Brazilian Digital Artist, creator of Amazofuturism
Jane Rendell, Professor of Critical Spatial Practice, Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Professor Alfred William Rutherford FRS, Chair of Biochemistry of Solar Energy
Emma J. Sayer, Reader in Ecosystem Ecology, Lancaster University
Andrew Simms, Co-director, New Weather Institute
Jon Spooner, Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Unlimited Theatre
Dr Leo Steeds, University of Warwick
Dr Katie Steckles, freelance maths communicator
Hedvig Elisabeth Sveistrup, Climate campaigner, Greens/EFA in the European Parliament
Dr Khalil Thirlaway, Science Communicator
James Thornton, Founding CEO, ClientEarth
Professor Jeremy Till, Head of Central Saint Martins, Pro Vice-Chancellor University of the Arts London
Cristina Torrente, Science Communicator
Matthew Tosh, Presenter and Pyrotechnician
Jess Turtle, Co-founder, Museum of Homelessness
Gordon Walker, Professor, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University
Dr Benjamin Waterhouse, Doctor
Robert Tony Watson, Professor Emeritus University of East Anglia, former chair IPCC, IPBES
Dr Rebecca Whittle, Senior Lecturer, Lancaster University
Professor Dilys Williams, Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion
Rebecca Willis, Professor of Energy and Climate Governance
Tristram Wyatt, Senior Research Fellow, Zoology Dept, University of Oxford
Daniel York Loh, Writer/Actor/Filmmaker
Danielle Zelli, Education Programmes Facilitator
