Queensland Museum faces criticism over Shell sponsorship of climate change education materials
Updated ,first published
The Queensland Museum has been accused of allowing it to enter into a sponsorship deal with one of the world’s largest gas companies to influence educational materials it distributes that teach students about climate change without mentioning fossil fuels.
Comms Declare, a climate advocacy group, published a report on Monday criticizing materials teachers can use in Queensland classrooms that bear the logo of Shell QGC, the division of the multinational energy company that drills for natural gas in Queensland.
The educational material covers topics such as extreme weather, threatened species and ocean acidification, but does not focus on the role of fossil fuels, including coal and gas, in driving climate change.
In one example, a source explains ocean acidification as being related to excess carbon dioxide, without specifying that it is caused by fossil fuels such as the burning of coal, oil, or gas.
Students are tasked with designing a carbon capture and storage (CCS) process, a controversial and expensive technology dismissed by opponents as promoting the long-term use of fossil fuels rather than a transition to renewable energy.
The sources were pulled from the Queensland Museum’s website on Monday morning. The organization declined to say why or whether it was re-evaluating the partnership when contacted by this imprint.
Comms Declare founder Belinda Noble said: “Queensland parents should be extremely concerned that their children are being taught biased, half-truths about climate change and the future of energy.
“This is climate obstruction under the guise of education. We do not allow Big Tobacco to sponsor educational materials; fossil fuel companies should not shape how children learn about climate.”
Queensland Museum has had a partnership with Shell’s QCG business since 2015.
The Future Makers program has funded the professional development of more than 1,700 teachers, a digital resource and video package, a science and technology career showcase and community events in Chinchilla and Gladstone regional centres, the statement said.
He told the climate group it maintained full independence in its research, exhibitions and educational activities and that its partnership with Shell was designed to encourage critical thinking, evidence-based learning and engagement with Queensland’s natural history.
It was stated that a review of learning resources is currently underway as schools move to the latest version of the national curriculum.
Shell had no duty to review or approve Queensland Museum materials but did not comment on the Communications Charter report.
Maiwar Greens MP Michael Berkman said Queensland students deserved world-class scientific education, “not thinly veiled propaganda plastered with corporate logos”.
“These materials obscure the role of fossil fuels in climate change, peddle scientifically unproven ‘carbon capture and storage’ myths, and focus on individual actions to evade Shell’s own responsibility,” he said.
“My 14-year-old isn’t going to save ‘poor Nemo’ by giving up plastic straws; the scientific consensus is clear that fossil fuels like those produced by Shell are the biggest threat to our climate and reefs.”
Education and Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek told Berkman in state parliament in September that he had not seen a complaint that the Shell deal was contrary to the museum’s legal obligations, but that he would look into the matter.
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