"Youthwashing" - Universities Pledged FF Divestment But Still Accept Millions From BP, Shell, Others
Major fossil fuel companies have committed tens of millions of pounds in funding to UK universities since 2022, it can be revealed, despite many of these institutions having actively pledged to divest from oil and gas. According to freedom of information requests submitted by the climate journalism site DeSmog, more than £40.9m in research agreements, tuition fees, scholarships, grants and consultancy fees have been pledged to 44 UK universities by 32 oil, coal and gas companies since 2022.
The largest contributors were Shell, the Malaysian state-owned oil company Petronas, and BP. These three companies account for more than 76% of the total figure awarded, having given £20.98m, £5.19m and £4.89m respectively. A further 10 companies made up nearly 21% of the remaining contributions during this period: Sinopec, Equinor, BHP Group, Total Energies, Eni SPA, Saudi Aramco, ExxonMobil, Scottish Power, Kellas Midstream and Ithaca Energy.
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The University of Exeter has received the most from fossil fuel firms since 2022, having signed a £14.7m, five-year deal with Shell in November for a project on “carbon storage and sequestration”. According to the contract award notice, the project is part of a “wider Shell-led research programme focused on sequestration which aligns with Shell’s target to be a net zero emissions energy business by 2050”.
Last year, Shell produced only 0.02% of its energy from renewable sources, and this year has dropped its target to cut oil production. The company recently abandoned plans to cut oil production by 1%-2% each year until 2030, and will be investing £33bn in oil and gas production between 2023 and 2035, compared with just £8bn-£12bn in “low-carbon” products. Shell claims it has reduced oil production more quickly than expected, though the company’s planned emissions between 2018 and 2030 are estimated to account for nearly 1.6% of the global carbon budget.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/04/uk-universities-take-41m-in-fossil-fuel-funding-since-2022
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