Save the Children withdrew from an event at the Science Museum London after coming under pressure from his supporters about the institution’s sponsors.
The charity said it decided to withdraw from an evening event called Journey of Life Lates on 11 September “following concerns from supporters about one of the museum’s sponsors, in the context of current public campaigns”.
It did not name the sponsor in question. However, the museum is the subject of criticism over its sponsorship by Adani Green Energypart of the Indian coal mining and energy conglomerate Adani Group.
Another part of the group, Adani Defense and Aerospace, has a partnership with the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems, and longstanding criticism by campaigners of the sponsorship arrangement has intensified since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
In a statement on Instagram, Save the Children said its planned participation in the event was “to raise awareness of its global maternal health work, including in Gaza”. The charity has previously appealed to the British government to suspend all arms exports and licenses to Israel “given the clear risk that they could be used to commit or facilitate violations of international humanitarian law”.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the campaigner and food writer, who was also originally due to appear at Wednesday’s event, said in July he had withdrawn after being made aware of the museum’s links with Adani and BP, another supporter, with reference to climate issues.
“Like many of you, I doubtless just assumed that a hallowed institution like this would be on the right side of history when it comes to climate. Apparently not,” he said on Instagram.
The charity Action against hungerwhich is also scheduled to participate, said it will participate in the Lates event “to provide information on severe acute malnutrition in children for a stall at the event. However, we will not participate in any further events organized by the Science Museum is not presented.” It added: “Our focus is on raising awareness about malnutrition, especially in children, which is critical to our mission.”
It turned out in July that the museum was ended its long-running relationship with the Norwegian oil conglomerate Equinorsponsor of his Wonderlab children’s gallery, about his climate record.
Emails obtained by campaigners showed that the museum’s director, Ian Blatchford, told Equinor in 2022 that this was in breach of the museum’s pledge to ensure its sponsors complied with the 2015 Paris climate agreement- goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C.
In other correspondence, the museum confirmed that sponsors who break climate commitments and cannot change course will be subject to gradual disengagement.
Parents for Palestinea campaign group that led protests at the museum about the sponsorship deal, said: “We are pleased that Save the Children has withdrawn from the Science Museum Lates after pressure from our campaign. We hope that increasing pressure will cause the Science Museum to withdraw from Adani.”
A spokesperson for the Science Museum said: “Engaging our audiences in the great challenges of our time is a priority for the museum, and earlier this year we opened a new gallery which highlights the urgent energy transition away from fossil fuels investigation that the world needs to see, made possible by generous sponsorship from Adani Green Energy, a renewable energy business.
“We recognize that some campaigners have strong views on sponsorship and want to see the whole sector decoupled. Our trustees disagree with that view and have clearly articulated our approach, both in terms of robust governance and to encourage companies, governments and individuals to do more to make the global economy less carbon intensive.”
Adani Group and BP have been approached for comment.
