BP’s £50m sponsorship deal with British Museum angers climate groups
BP has committed £50m to the through a partnership that promises to be the largest arts donation in UK history.
The oil giant will send the total over the next ten years to help fund the museum’s £1bn ‘masterplan’ refurbishment project. BP has a storied history sponsoring the iconic cultural tourist attraction, a link that has seen it attract the ire of protest groups in the past.
Alongside planned renovations of the rooms housing collections of objects from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, the museum plans to build a new energy centre to reduce the building’s carbon footprint.
However, a spokesperson for BP told Morning Wire that the £50m donation would not go towards this area of the refurbishments.
Charlie Mayfield, chair of the British Museum’s Masterplan committee, said: “The British Museum is one of the largest and most visited cultural institutions in the world but some of its buildings are over 200 years old and in urgent need of refurbishment.
“There’s so much to look forward to in 2024 and we are grateful to all our partners for their support.”
Louise Kingham, senior vice president Europe and UK Country chair for BP, added: “As a business that has made Britain its home for over a century, we are proud to be a long-term partner to this important British institution and play our part in its future transformation – whilst helping to ensure that this iconic cultural venue remains freely accessible to all.”
But the partnership has sparked outrage among climate activist groups.
Doug Parr, the UK policy director for Greenpeace, said: “The arts and culture world has been steadily cutting ties with big oil, after realising the handy role they play in cleaning up their climate-wrecking image.
“Yet BP have wormed their way back into the British Museum with what must surely be one of the biggest, most brazen greenwashing sponsorship deals the sector has ever seen.”
BP has in recent years been dropped as a sponsor by arts organisations including the National Portrait Gallery, Tate Gallery and Royal Opera House.