New study reveals fossil fuel industry’s deep ties to universities

Fossil fuel companies have infiltrated academia and higher education, threatening to bias research and undermine meaningful climate action, new research from six universities concludes.

The study uncovers hundreds of real or apparent conflicts of interest for various researchers and universities, with oil and gas companies and their representatives funding climate and energy research to the tune of tens to hundreds of millions of dollars per year, sitting on university governing boards, endowing academic posts, sponsoring scholarships and lectures, advising curricula, and more.

These partnerships often grant substantial material and reputational benefits to the fossil fuel industry, including research that favours the industry's interests, training and recruitment opportunities. But these partnerships also threaten the credibility, independence and public trust of academia.

The first-of-its-kind literature review, published in the peer-reviewed journal WIREs Climate Change, is based on an analysis of every known English-language academic and white paper report on fossil fuel-university ties published through 2023.

"Since 2003, when I first realised fossil fuel companies were funding climate and energy research in universities, I have been concerned with how higher education is being used by industry to slow down fossil fuel phaseout and increase their profits", commented Jennie Stephens, who is a coauthor of the study and Professor of Climate Justice at the ICARUS Climate Research Centre at Maynooth University.

"Our new research reveals the scale and scope of strategic investment in higher education by the fossil fuel industry which has been going on for decades. To maintain the integrity of academia and to preserve the public trust in higher education, I hope this research encourages university leaders to cut ties with extractive industries," she said.

"Our review suggests that universities are an established yet under-researched vehicle of climate obstruction by the fossil fuel industry, complementary to its documented history of climate denial, delay, and lobbying," the study concludes. "Fossil fuel companies have embedded themselves in universities across the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and beyond."

The study finds that NGOs, students, and faculty have been raising the alarm on fossil fuel industry ties to academia since at least 2003 in white paper reports. Despite this, and despite historical parallels to the strategy of funding academics by other industries like tobacco, pharmaceuticals, and junk food, the literature review identifies a worrying lack of attention to the issue in academic papers and by university leaders.

Out of roughly 14,000 peer-reviewed articles about sponsorship and conflicts of interest identified in academic databases, only seven were found to mention fossil fuels. In response, the authors urge scholars to "engage urgently" in a new research agenda focused on the prevalence and consequences of fossil fuel industry-university partnerships, as well as responses to them.

The study identifies a major obstacle to this research agenda, however: "universities' widespread lack of transparency on funding ties, amounts, and contract details" between themselves and fossil fuel companies. "We call on universities around the world to disclose their financial and contractual ties with fossil fuel companies," write the authors. "The academic integrity of higher education is at risk."

"Scholars also have an opportunity to go further than research," says the paper, pointing to an open letter signed by more than 950 researchers calling on universities to stop accepting research funding from the fossil fuel industry. The authors encourage their colleagues "to communicate their findings widely, to advocate for the policy implications of their work, and to support others in doing so."

The study adds weight to legal and political investigations into the fossil fuel industry's efforts to delay action on the climate crisis, which have only just begun to address the fossil fuel industry's public affairs strategy of infiltrating universities. A hearing held by the United States Senate Committee on the Budget on 1 May 2024, entitled "Denial, Disinformation, and Doublespeak: Big Oil's Evolving Efforts to Avoid Accountability for Climate Change" (at which one of this study's authors, Dr. Geoffrey Supran, testified), was the first major public forum to scrutinise the topic.

One of the most striking findings of the joint investigation by House and Senate committees was a confidential 2018 BP strategy memo that recommended a $1.1 million-per-year campaign that included funding white papers from Princeton University and Imperial College "highlighting the role of gas as a friend to renewables." According to the Congressional committees, it is one of numerous pieces of evidence that oil companies "establish funded partnerships with academic institutions to enhance their credibility, shape academic research programs to provide studies supportive of a prolonged life for oil and gas, leverage the resulting research to their advantage, and bolster access to policymakers."

The paper's Acknowledgements state that this research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute on Aging, and the High Tide Foundation.

Article authors:

· Sofia Hiltner, Department of Sociology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

· Emily Eaton, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Regina, Regina, Canada

· Noel Healy, Geography and Sustainability Department, Salem State University, Salem, Massachusetts, USA

· Andrew Scerri, Political Science & International Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

· Jennie C. Stephens, ICARUS Climate Research Centre, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Co Kildare, Ireland

· Geoffrey Supran, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, USA

The research paper is available open-access at this link

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