Science Museum sponsor lashes out at climate campaigners

A senior energy executive has hit out at the “armchair activism” of climate campaigners after a backlash over his company’s sponsorship of the Science Museum.

Sagar Adani, who runs Adani Green Energy, said that he was focused on finding solutions to climate change instead of just “making people cry” and vowed to continue supporting the museum.

Adani Green Energy – which is a renewables business linked to the Adani Group, India’s biggest operator of coal mines and power stations – sponsors a gallery on the future of power that is opening on Tuesday.

The organisation’s links to the Science Museum have long been controversial. Their decision to strike a partnership in 2021 prompted protests as well as the resignations of three trustees or advisors, including TV mathematician Professor Hannah Fry and former director Professor Chris Rapley.

But in an interview with The Telegraph, Mr Adani said the anger was misplaced.

He said: “Adani Green is making the transition happen and we are doing it on a very large scale. Not many people have heard of us in the UK but we are doing solar at probably the largest scale of any company anywhere in the world.

“There is no other company executing 50 gigawatts (GW) of new renewables as we are doing in India. And at the scale we are now executing there are many lessons we’re learning which we want to disseminate to financial, scientific and other stakeholders.

“And sponsoring the Science Museum is part of that plan.”

Adani Green Energy recently started work on turning a huge tract of desert in Gujarat into what may become the world’s largest solar farm – covering an area five times larger than Paris.

Mr Adani said: “We believe very strongly in what we do. How do we create these renewable capacities? How do we achieve our new target of 250 GW in 10 years? Where do we get the capital from? What are the challenges? Those are the questions that we are grappling with every year.

“And our work with the Science Museum is trying to do exactly that. Bringing together people who care and who want to do something about it, not just making people cry or engaging in armchair activism.

“Criticism is always welcome. But our focus is on solving problems.”

Activists are unhappy about the sponsorship deal because of Adani Green’s links to Adani Group, which mines more than 100 million tonnes of coal a year, burns much of it in its eight power stations and also runs eight large airports.

Gautam Adani, the group’s co-founder and chairman and once the world’s third-richest man, is Sagar Adani’s uncle.

Adani has also faced criticism over its corporate activities. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been investigating the group after a report from Hindenburg Research in January last year alleged that it improperly used tax havens and flagged concerns about high debt levels.

The Adani Group called the report baseless and termed the allegations “unsubstantiated speculations”.

Last month a group led by Greta Thunberg staged a protest at the museum, unfurling a banner reading: “2024, more droughts and floods – fuelled by Science Museum oil and gas sponsors”.

The Fossil Free Science Museum coalition, which includes Extinction Rebellion and Scientists for Extinction Rebellion, said: “The board has a legal duty to protect the museum’s reputation but this sponsorship has already done massive damage to the Science Museum’s standing.”

Sir Ian Blatchford, director and chief executive of the Science Museum Group, said: ‘Engaging our audiences with the science of climate change – the defining challenge of our time – is a key priority for the Science Museum Group. Our innovative new gallery was made possible by generous sponsorship from Adani Green Energy.

“We recognise that some campaigners have strong views about sponsorship and wish to see wholesale disengagement from entire sectors.

“Our trustees disagree with that view and have clearly articulated our approach, both in terms of robust governance and in urging companies, governments and individuals to do more to make the global economy less carbon intensive – something Adani Green Energy is making a big contribution to.”