Campaigning for an end to oil industry sponsorship of the arts in Scotland
A parliamentary motion lodged by the Scottish Greens is calling for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) to "cut ties" with BP.
Ross Greer MSP, the party’s culture and media spokesperson, wants to win cross-party backing for the SNPG to ditch its sponsorship deal with the oil and gas giant, including for the prestigious “BP Portrait Award”.
Greer, the country’s youngest MSP ever elected, said:
“Arts and cultural institutions have an important role to play in protecting our shared environment and the most obvious way for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery to do that is to set an example and break free from exhibitions sponsored by fossil fuel companies.
“The logo used by BP might be green in colour, but they are about as far as you can get from a shining example of the green credentials a company should have. People aren’t daft, they know that the sponsoring of arts, cultural and sporting events by oil and gas companies is a cynical attempt to divert attention away from the numerous environmental disasters the industry has been associated with.”
Greer added:
“Scottish Greens are part of the campaign for an end to oil industry sponsorship of the arts in Scotland. We hope that SNPG and others will decide to join us.”
The full text of the Scottish Parliament motion lodged by Ross Greer:
“That the Parliament notes its disappointment at the sponsorship by the fossil fuel company BP of the ‘BP Portrait Award’ exhibition hosted by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG); supports the activism of ‘BP or not BP? Scotland’; acknowledges that public and cultural institutions have a duty to demonstrate leadership in the fight against climate change and human rights abuse; supports the global movement to divest public and private funds, including sponsorships, from fossil fuels; acknowledges that approximately £2.3 trillion has been divested from the fossil fuel industry globally; and calls on the SNPG and the National Portrait Gallery in London to cut ties with BP.”