BP Institute blockaded following revelations of insidious links between Cambridge University and the fossil fuel industry

Yesterday, members of the Zero Carbon Society stood in solidarity outside the BP Institute in response to the findings of their recent report. They bore a huge banner which read "Cambridge Come Clean".

The organisation also blockaded the CASP institute (Cambridge Arctic Shelf Programme), an organisation dedicated to seeking new sources of oil and gas across the globe. CASP is affiliated with Cambridge's Earth Sciences Department.

The organisation have said: "Our blockade of both the BP Institute and CASP this morning is a demonstration of our outrage at the complex entanglement of this university and the destructive fossil fuel companies which continue to drive the climate crisis in full knowledge of the mortal consequences."

Monday's report reveals the shocking and disturbing extent of Cambridge's wider links with the fossil fuel industry. Cambridge not only invests its endowment in the industry, but also legitimises the practices of fossil fuel companies by providing donations, sponsorships, shared personnel and research grants.

The university has received over £18 million in research funding from fossil fuel companies since 2001. Over £12 million of this was received in the last four years, despite the escalating sense of urgency surrounding the climate change crisis.

Research has shown that no new fossil fuel infrastructure can be built if we are to have a 66 per cent chance of staying within the 1.5 degree limit recommended by the 2018 IPCC report.

The report also uncovered an insidious network of personal links between Cambridge and the fossil fuel industry. Five members of the university’s Finance Committee have links with the fossil fuel industry. Fossil fuel companies sponsor a number of named professorships including the BP Professorship of Chemistry, the Shell Professor of Chemical Engineering, and the Schlumberger Professorship of Complex Physical Systems.

The Zero Carbon Society demand the university immediately stop accepting donations, research grants, sponsorships and advertising from fossil fuel companies, stop inviting these companies to careers fairs and stop awarding honorary fellowships to fossil fuel executives.

The full report can be found here.

Next Monday, the organisation will be rallying to demonstrate their refusal to tolerate the university's continued links with the fossil fuel industry.