In London, environmental defenders have stepped up actions against certain cultural institutions in recent days. The reason is the partnerships they maintain with large companies that exploit fossil fuels. Groups of eco-activists have gathered to protest against the sponsorship of the Science Museum and the British Museum.
On Saturday March 23, more than one hundred and fifty people demonstrated against the opening of the new gallery at the Science Museum in London sponsored by Adani, an Indian group active in the energy sector which has significant interests in the energy industry. coal. Opened on March 26, the Adani Green Energy Gallery aims to show how renewable energy can combat climate change. “It will present the scientific vision of a sustainable future, powered by renewable energy and low-carbon technologies” said Gautam Adani, director of the company, on X (formerly Twitter).
When it was announced in 2021, this partnership had already been denounced by several scientists from the Science Museum and by young environmental activists, who had spent the night in the museum as a sign of protest. Protesters this time gathered in a stairwell of the museum and scattered black confetti while chanting and repeating the words “environment justice now”.
Led by the environmentalist movement Fossil Free Now, the demonstration also brought together members of the South Asia Solidarity Group organization and pro-Palestinian activists. They were protesting not only against the fact that the Adani group claims to be in the midst of an ecological transition while it invests in the extraction and importation of coal, but also against its “complicity” in the Gaza war and in ethnic repression in India. They accuse Adani of having forced Adivasi tribal communities to leave their ancestral lands in order to carry out its operations, and recall that it is a shareholder in the company Elbit Systems, which manufactures the Hermes 900 drones used by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). ) in Gaza.
The next day, it was the British Museum's turn to be in the crosshairs of activists. The action led by the group Energy Embargo for Palestine forced the museum to evacuate visitors and close its doors on Sunday afternoon. Blocking the entrance to the building, protesters called on the British Museum to end its sponsorship of British Petroleum (BP), the oil company with which it has had a partnership for ten years. The museum had announced that it would end it in June 2023, only to change its mind in December by signing a new contract with BP with aid of 50 million pounds (58 million euros) spread over ten years.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators also joined climate activists. Waving banners “Sponsored by BP = sponsored by colonial genocide”, they denounced the fact that BP is profiting from offshore gas exploration licenses granted by Israel since the start of the war against Gaza.
