Stonehenge glories are tarnished by British Museum’s oil giant backer
The critics are unanimous: the British Museum’s new exhibition, The World of Stonehenge, is a triumph. As archaeologists, it’s wonderful for us to see the show achieve such plaudits. But the fact that the exhibition is once again sponsored by the oil and gas supermajor BP brings inevitable disquiet. Hundreds of our colleagues in archaeology, museums and the heritage sector have recently signed a letter asking the museum to end its relationship with BP. The signatories include senior curators and academics from across the UK and beyond. This is a decisive moment for the British Museum: its agreement with BP is due for renewal this year and its future hangs in the balance.
BP has maintained a strategy of sponsoring cultural institutions for decades, as part of its heavy investment in public relations. It’s keen to convince the public – and our policymakers – that it can be trusted to manage the transition to net zero itself. But BP’s programme for “net zero by 2050” relies on massive use of unproved carbon capture technologies and implausible offsetting. The company is continuing to look for new sources of oil and gas, which the International Energy Agency has said cannot be exploited if net zero is to be achieved. BP’s plans also ignore its 20% stake in the Russian oil company Rosneft, which is launching a $134bn project to drill in the Arctic. BP’s activities jeopardise efforts to keep global heating within the 1.5C limit of the Paris climate agreement and avoid yet worse droughts, wildfires and sea level rise.
We don’t know exactly how much money BP provides to the British Museum, although it’s almost certainly less than 1% of the museum’s income. With 2021 profits of £9.5bn, this is small change for BP. But at a time of
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