Organisers of a nationwide schools science roadshow say they have dropped gas company Santos as its main sponsor after a senior climate scientist said the fossil fuel funding was inappropriate.
The Science Schools Foundation, which runs the Santos Science Experience, told Guardian Australia its board had decided not to renew the gas company as its naming rights sponsor for next year.
Last month Macquarie University – one of 19 universities hosting children for the events – dropped the Santos name for its leg of the science experience after criticism from one of its own academics, Prof Lesley Hughes.
It comes just weeks after Santos was dropped by the Darwin arts festival and amid rising community concerns over fossil fuel sponsorships that critics say are used by companies to buy a social licence to operate.
The national director of the Science Schools Foundation, Jacqueline Bellars, said the foundation’s board “has decided not to renew the naming rights for Santos from 1 January 2023”.
She declined to say how much the existing sponsorship deal was worth or why the board had made the decision, referring questions to Santos. But she said the foundation’s income from the company was entirely tied to its naming rights deal.
She said: “We are now searching for a new sponsor. The science experience will keep going into the future, as it has for the last 32 years.”
Guardian Australia approached Santos on Thursday for comment. The company responded with a letter to the foundation dated the same day from Santos executive Janette Hewson, which said: “Thank you for the discussion with Santos over the past couple of weeks about the future of our relationship going forward.”
“I am writing to confirm that Santos will not be seeking to renew or extend the Sponsorship Contract beyond the current term.”
Prof Hughes said: “I’m glad [the foundation] made that decision. That’s good news.
“I do not think it’s appropriate for a science experience for school children to be sponsored by a fossil fuel company whose actions are directly impacting these children’s future.”
Hughes said after Guardian Australia revealed Macquarie University’s stance, she was contacted by several academics at other institutions that wanted to remove their association with the Santos-branded events.
She said: “They had realised their own institutions were part of the program and expressed concern and asked me for advice on how they could get the same outcome that we had at Macquarie.”
The science experience sees thousands of children in year 9 and year 10 taking part in science activities over one, three or four days at universities and other institutions.
Santos took over the naming rights for the science experience from another oil and gas company, ConocoPhillips.
Santos is a major sponsor of sports and community events, including the national and Queensland rugby union teams and cycling’s Santos Tour Down Under.
The former Wallabies captain and independent senator David Pocock said he was glad the Santos sponsorship for the science experience was ending.
He said: “In 2022 fossil fuel companies have no place sponsoring school science festivals, using students to try and purchase social licence.”
He said he had written to the science minister, Ed Husic, to ask him to reconsider fossil fuel sponsorship of science education programs at Questacon – the national science and technology centre in Canberra.
A report this week found Australia’s top tier of sport accepts as much as $18m a year in sponsorship from fossil fuel companies.
The Australian cricket captain and advocate for climate action Pat Cummins has refused to appear in any more advertisements for gas power company Alinta Energy, the national team’s main sponsor.
Several high-profile fans of the Fremantle Dockers have urged the AFL club to drop its sponsorship deal with gas giant Woodside.
Hughes, a member of the Climate Change Authority, which advises the government, said: “I think there needs to be a conversation [about fossil fuel sponsorship].
“People listen when athletes like Pat Cummins speak their minds. They care about their future and our children’s future.
“I’ve been heartened to hear prominent athletes speaking out on this. I hope more sectors in society do the same thing because everyone is affected by climate change.”
