The Science Museum Group’s contract with the Norwegian energy company Equinor has ended, with the charity encouraging the company to “raise the bar” in its efforts to reduce its carbon emissions in alignment with the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
Equinor has sponsored the museum’s interactive Wonderlab: The Equinor Gallery since 2016 but a spokesperson for the museum said that its sponsorship has “drawn to a close at the end of their current contract term”.
The museum’s director Sir Ian Blatchford told Equinor that it was in breach of the museum’s pledge to ensure that its sponsors comply with the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, according to emails released under Freedom of Information legislation and seen by The Observer newspaper.
In other correspondence, the museum confirmed that sponsors in breach of climate commitments and unable to change course would be gradually disengaged with, the Observer said.
A spokesperson for the Science Museum Group said Equinor’s sponsorship of the Wonderlab gallery had “drawn to a close at the end of its current contract term”.
They said: “The partnership concludes with our warm appreciation and with our ongoing encouragement to Equinor to continue to raise the bar in its efforts to put in place emissions reduction targets aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.”
The spokesperson said the company’s contribution had been “enormously important” to the museum and had “helped inspire hundreds of thousands of young potential engineers and scientists”.
The museum’s partnership with the energy company has been criticised by climate activists due to the company’s role in Rosebank, a large undeveloped oil and gas field in the North Sea that was given the go-ahead for development by the former Conservative government last year.
In a blog posted last month, Tim Laurence, chair of the Science Museum Group, said: “As a board we do not agree with those who say we should rule out accepting sponsorship from all companies involved in fossil fuel extraction.”
He said the board believed in “constructive engagement with companies that will be key in making the global economy less carbon intensive”.
He said: “Those with whom we partner must demonstrate that they are moving with sufficient urgency along the transition pathway to match our aspirations.”
Sissel Rinde, vice president of media relations at Equinor, said: “After eight years of partnership with the Science Museum, our formal sponsorship agreement ended on 28 June. Since 2016, Wonderlab: The Equinor Gallery has seen over two million visitors enjoy the wonder and curiosity of Stem subjects, of which we are truly proud.”
She said that Equinor had set a “clear vision” to reach net zero by 2050, saying: “In short, we will continue to deliver the energy the world needs today with the lowest possible emissions, while at the same time investing more and more in the energy industries of the future such as renewable energy, transport and storage of CO2 and hydrogen value chains.”