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More than 150 people occupied London’s Science Museum on Saturday to protest a new gallery sponsored by Adani, an Indian conglomerate with ties to coal mining and arms manufacturing.
The museum has been accused of letting Adani Group, the world’s largest private coal mining company, “greenwash” its activities by sponsoring the energy revolution: Adani Green Energy Gallery Through our renewable energy subsidiary. A new gallery opening on Tuesday highlights how renewable energy can help tackle climate change.
An investigation by research group Culture Unstained, using documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request, found that the museum had prepared an internal due diligence report identifying allegations of corruption, fraud, and human rights concerns related to the Adani Group. It became clear.
On Saturday, the museum’s Energy Hall was filled with 150 black-clad protesters who unfurled a 12-metre banner depicting Adivasi women protesting the Adani operation in India. Adani is accused of excluding indigenous Adivasi people from their ancestral lands.
Protesters also accused Adani of profiting from the Gaza war through its partnership with Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems. Mukti Shah of the South Asia Solidarity Group said: “Adani manufactures drones and guns used in genocide against Palestinians and in killing and maiming Kashmiris and protesters in India. Adani is displacing India’s indigenous Adivasi communities from their land on a large scale. Adani is funding India’s violent Hindu supremacist government of Narendra Modi, which is carrying out ethnic cleansing against minorities. It is shocking and shameful that science museums are supporting the greenwashing of this murderous enterprise by accepting sponsorships.”
Adani’s sponsorship was first announced in 2021. Board members Hannah Fry and Jo Foster resigned over the decision, and the museum’s former director Chris Rapley, a leading climate scientist, resigned from the advisory group. As other cultural institutions have moved away from fossil fuel sponsors in recent years, the Science Museum has signed deals with Adani as well as oil companies BP and Equinor.
Scientists have also criticized the sponsorship. Dr. Caroline Vincent of Scientists for Extinction Rebellion said: “A gallery about renewable energy is exactly what a science museum should be doing, but the choice of sponsors is incredible. The museum’s own due diligence on Adani has led to significant fines, cases of litigation, and ongoing criminal investigations. Poor working conditions and human rights issues were uncovered. They chose to partner with Adani Green instead so they could ignore the initial findings.”
In response to this weekend’s protests, Sir Ian Blatchford, director and chief executive of the Science Museum Group, defended the sponsor’s choice. “Engaging audiences with the science of climate change, the defining challenge of our time, is a key priority for the Science Museum Group,” he said. “Our innovative new gallery explores how we can achieve the urgent energy transition that the world is watching.” Made possible by generous sponsorship from Energy, whose huge population is expected to drive the largest energy transition, will increase energy demand in every country in the world in the coming decades. ”
Adani Group has been contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, the British Museum closed early on Sunday after pro-Palestinian protesters gathered to demonstrate against the museum’s partnership with BP. The group behind the demonstrations, a new UK-based group called Palestine Energy Embargo, aimed to draw links to the Gaza conflict as part of the protest.I used it as a reference News that since the war began, Israel has granted offshore gas exploration licenses to six companies, including BP.
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