The Case of the British Museum and Its Long-Time Partnership with BP

The partnership between the British Museum and British Petroleum (BP) heads back to 1996. For over 25 years BP have been a reliable and loyal partner for the Museum and ‘one of the British Museum’s longest standing corporate supporters’. BP has supported numerous special exhibitions and special public events at the British Museum, and in 2000 funded the BP Lecture Theatre. However, opponents of the partnership between the Museum and BP argue that the museum is being used ‘to greenwash the activities of a company whose actions threaten lives the world over, both now and in the future’. At least one trustee resigns and writes in an open letter that the museum needs to take a clear ethical position on several issues. In 2023 the museum has to decide what to do with the renewal if the sponsor contract.