Image: Chris Packham at the Science Museum protest in 2019 (Andrea Domeniconi)
MPs have debated a “tobacco-style” ban on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship. The debate, which took place yesterday, was triggered after a petition launched by broadcaster and conservationist Chris Packham, which gained over 110,000 signatures.
The Government’s official response to the petition was issued on late last year. It stated that although the UK is “committed to reducing emissions”, there “are currently no plans to restrict fossil fuel advertising.”
Campaigners from groups including Culture Unstained and Platform were present at the debate. Culture Unstained has long called for an end to fossil fuel company sponsorship in the cultural sector.
It has argued that while organisations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Portrait Gallery and Tate have in recent years ended deals with fossil fuel companies, The British Museum and Science Museum are among those still in partnership.
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In 2019, Science Museum Director Ian Blatchford argued that oil and gas companies have the “capital, geography and people to be major players in finding solutions to climate change and demonising them is unproductive.”
During yesterday’s meeting, Andrew Bowie, Shadow Minister for Energy and Conservative MP for Aberdeenshire and Kincardine argued that an energy transition “will not be achieved by demonising the oil and gas sector.”
Last year Packham visited protestors at the Science Museum’s new gallery, Energy Revolution, who had sat in at the gallery in protest of its sponsorship by Adani, a conglomerate which is invested in both renewable and non-renewable energy.
Over 100 organisations across the advertising and media sector signed a letter to the government backing a ban ahead of the debate.
The initiative, coordinated by the Clean Creatives, Creatives for Climate and Purpose Disruptors, published the joint letter, which reads: “We, as members of the UK advertising industry, have come to the conclusion that in the interests of our industry, there should be a national ban on all advertising and sponsorship from fossil fuel companies.
“As UK businesses, with a collective revenue of over £900 million, and who employ thousands, we are clear that this will benefit the long-term health of the UK advertising industry.”
The Under-Secretary of State for Energy Michael Shanks repeated the government’s position that it had no plans “to restrict fossil fuel advertising” during the meeting, but recognised climate change as “an existential crisis for our planet”.
“If we are serious about reducing our carbon emissions, then we must be serious about supporting the very companies with the expertise, the infrastructure and the capital to deliver it.”
The Minister for Energy shared his view that instead “our emphasis needs to be much more on empowering people to make informed choices.”
Frances Morris, the former director of Tate Modern, told The Art Newspaper ahead of yesterday’s debate that a ban “would liberate our institutions from the conflicts of interest they currently face in fundraising, allow them to refocus their roles and responsibilities, and help them rebuild the public trust they are currently in danger of losing.”
