More than 50 prominent scientists, campaigners and politicians have signed a letter calling on the Science Museum to drop its oil sponsorship.
Despite choosing not to renew its previous sponsorship deal with Shell following criticism and campaigning, the Science Museum decided to accept sponsorship from Statoil, a Norwegian multinational oil and gas company, for its revamped children’s gallery, which the letter’s signatories describe as an “unconscionable” decision.
The museum, which has been free to visitors since 2001, is also to charge admission for Wonderlab: the Statoil gallery, the new interactive gallery for children, which opens on Wednesday and replaces the popular Launchpad gallery.
The signatories of the letter, published in the Guardian on Monday, include Caroline Lucas MP, the co-leader of the Green party; Bill McKibben, the co-founder of 350.org; Douglas Parr, the chief scientist of Greenpeace UK; and Jonathan Oppenheim, a Royal Society university research fellow at University College London. They take issue with both the decision to charge for a gallery aimed at children and the sponsorship deal with Statoil.
The letter urges the museum to drop its entry charge, which the signatories say denies those from less privileged backgrounds the opportunity to attend and be excited about science and renewable energies, and its “unethical” sponsorship.
It reads: “It is unconscionable that in 2016 a museum of science is handing a fossil fuel company legitimacy by allowing it to sponsor a gallery designed to inspire the next generation.”
Referring to the entry charge, which would be £22.50 for a family of four, the letter says: “It is unacceptable for the Science Museum and Statoil to make future generations pick up the bill for their ill-made decisions.”
Lucas said: “By allowing them to sponsor this exhibition, the Science Museum is handing legitimacy to a firm that risks our planet’s future through its plans for further fossil fuel exploration.
“Statoil’s own business plan runs counter to the overwhelming scientific evidence which points to the fact that we must leave the vast majority of known fossil fuel reserves in the ground to avoid catastrophic climate change.
“I’m supporting this campaign to kick big oil out of one of Britain’s most treasured museums and also calling on the Science Museum to make this exhibition free so everyone can access it.”
The children’s gallery is one of the Science Museum’s largest and most popular exhibitions, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
The £6m renovation, which has included making the gallery 60% larger, will feature interactive exhibits, live demonstrations and “an explainer-led experience [that] will reveal the beauty and wonder” in the science and mathematics that shape our lives.
Ian Blatchford, the director of the Science Museum, said: “We’ve already taken 30,000 bookings for school children to visit this extraordinary interactive gallery for free and our goal is to welcome 200,000 schoolchildren annually. That will mean twice as many of our most diverse and representative group of visitors enjoying this inspirational space for free as our previous interactive gallery could accommodate.
“We’re fortunate that our sponsors share our huge ambition for this £6m gallery and support our mission to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.”
