Big fossil fuel companies have committed tens of millions of pounds of funding at UK universities since 2022 this can be revealed, although many of these institutions have actively committed to divestment from oil and gas. From a report: According to Freedom of Information requests submitted by climate journalism site DeSmog, more than $50 million in research deals, tuition, scholarships, grants and consultancy fees have been pledged to 44 UK universities by 32 oil, coal and gas companies since 2022. The main contributors have been Shell, Malaysian state oil company Petronas and BP. These three companies represent more than 76% of the total amount awarded, with $25.5 million, $6.30 million and $5.94 million respectively.
Ten other companies accounted for almost 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. A previous report from openDemocracy and the Guardian revealed that between 2017 and December 2021, $108.1 million in funding was provided to UK universities by some of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies. These partnerships have shown no signs of slowing down, and DeSmog’s research shows that an additional $50 million has been pledged since 2022, even after 102 higher education institutions promised to stop receiving industry funding fossil fuels.