Cambridge University criticised for accepting £6m donation from Shell

Cambridge University has accepted a £6m donation from multinational fossil fuel corporation Royal Dutch Shell to fund research into new oil extraction technology.

The multimillion-pound investment was approved in March, The Guardian reports, but it was not included among the official financial disclosures in July, when donations from the previous year are usually announced.

Details emerged days before Sinead Lynch, the chair of Shell UK, was set to join a panel at a policy-making workshop on Monday to address university staff on the future of funding from fossil fuel companies.

The university had recently announced it would publish a fully costed plan on divesting multibillion-pound endowments from coal, oil and gas companies, describing climate change as “one of the most pressing problems facing humanity”.

Speaking to Varsity, Cambridge’s student newspaper, a spokesperson for the student-led society Cambridge Zero Carbon, stated the university had been “hijacked” by the fossil fuel industry, which was already earning hundreds of millions off Cambridge’s research.

“Fossil fuel executives should be in court for their crimes against humanity, not helping determine the policy of leading public research institutions,” the spokesperson said.

In response to news of the donation, over 200 students and staff gathered at a mass rally organised by the group on Monday 4 November, protesting against the university’s ties with the fossil fuel industry.

Cambridge University defended the recent donation as “the final gift in a commitment [dating] back to 2014” to fund the magnetic resonance research group.

“The main focus of Prof [Lynn] Gladden’s proposed research related to the gift is on supporting the transition to a zero-carbon economy by improving chemical reactions in fuel cells, electrolysers and making chemical processes for industrial use more sustainable”, a university spokesperson said.