• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Business and Economics

UK universities accepted at least £89 million from oil firms in last four years

Overall, 36 universities admitted they received funding from eight oil firms, but others refused to say whether they received funding, meaning the total amount of funding could be much higher. 

Andra Maciuca by Andra Maciuca
2021-12-12 15:11
in Business and Economics, Education, News
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY

Photo: SWNS

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Some of the UK’s most famous universities are among those who accepted hefty sums of money from major oil companies over the past four years, a new investigation has revealed. 

According to research from Open Democracy, UK universities took funding worth £89 million from some of the world’s biggest companies, including donations, gifts, grants and research funding. 

Overall, 36 universities admitted they received funding from eight oil firms, but others refused to say whether they received funding, meaning the total amount of funding could be much higher. 

Cambridge and Oxford universities among those who accepted the money

Findings show Cambridge University received over £14 million from oil giants, whilst Oxford was given around £8 million, including large donations to its Said Business School Centre for Corporate Reputation. 

Cambridge University said that since October last year, it accepted money from oil firms only if the collaboration would support the UK’s “transition to decarbonised energy”. 

But Rianna Gargiulo, divestment campaigner at Friends of the Earth, suggested the deal is showing a dark side of the University.  

She told The Guardian: “By accepting millions of pounds in grants and sponsorship from the fossil fuel industry, UK universities are complicit in propping up and legitimising the existence and operations of some of the most harmful companies on the planet.

RelatedPosts

Watch: ‘Moving to tears’ as EU flag brought into Ukranian Parliament ‘to stay’

Does Sue Perkins’ NSFW comment about ‘the government’ chime with you?

Watch: Turkish president scares PM but is it due to poem Johnson wrote about him?

Metropolitan Police officers sacked over ‘abhorrent and discriminatory’ messages

“The revelation of these sponsorship deals tarnishes the reputations of the UK’s leading academic institutions, including those like the University of Cambridge that have committed to divesting from fossil fuels.”

Meanwhile, Oxford University said that oil donors “have no influence” over academic research and conclusions and defended its collaborations.

‘No justification’

But Caroline Lucas, the MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “Let’s be clear – there is no justification for taking money from oil and gas firms and no justification for being complicit in greenwashing of these big corporations.”

Among institutions who disclosed the funding received from oil giants, the highest amount was received by Imperial College London, with £54 million since 2017, including £39 million from Shell, with which the university said it has a “longstanding and fruitful partnership”. 

Imperial College also defended its partnership, arguing it has helped “develop meaningful solutions to climate change” and accelerate their ability to reach Paris agreement targets. 

Edinburgh, Southampton, Bath and Aberdeen universities also took over £1 million each from the oil companies in question.

But some universities refused to reveal details of any links, such as The London School of Economics, who said doing so would “prejudice the commercial interests of the school, by making it more difficult to raise funds from private donors in the future”. 

The University of Surrey also refused to offer details of funding from BP, on the advice of BP itself, who argued the specific amount of money involved is “commercially sensitive”.

Related: REVEALED: The UK dairy brands linked to deforestation in Brazil

Tags: fossil fuelsOxford UniversityUniversity of Cambridge

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Lucky Numbers and Horoscopes for today 9 April 2022

“Too litle, too late” Dankse Bank permits Whistleblower to testify before Danish & European Parliaments

‘Lining their pockets’: Quarter of Tory MPs have lucrative second jobs

Protests break out in Shakespeare’s home town demanding answers from MP Nadhim Zahawi

‘Need more action like this:’ Ex P&O workers block entrance at Port

Going for Gold: The non-invasive supplement giving your skin a daily boost

Britain braced for pigs in blankets shortage as EU workers shun festive jobs

30 signs you are going through a mid-life crisis

Tories present feeble plan to plaster over the wounds they created

Scandal-hit Williamson nominated for ‘MP of the Year’

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.