BP PLC (LSE:BP.) will end its more than 30-year sponsorship of the National Portrait Gallery following pressure from climate activists.
The oil giant will finish its support for the gallery’s National Portrait Award in December following the completion of a five-year, $7.5mln deal signed in 2017.
In 2019, 78 artists, including five Turner prize winners, wrote to Nicholas Cullinan, the gallery’s director, calling on the group to end BP’s sponsorship deal.
BP plans to diversify away from oil and gas, pledging to cut its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
The company has faced pressure from climate activists over a number of cultural partnerships in recent years, including the Tate gallery, the British Museum and the Royal Opera House, the latter of which BP remains a sponsor.
In an announcement this morning, BP said the decision followed a review into its “partnerships and initiatives to ensure activity is aligned to its new strategy”.
“We are immensely proud of our role in championing British arts and culture for over 30 years, but the BP of today is a very different company from when we first started our partnership with the National Portrait Gallery,” said Louise Kingham, senior vice-president for Europe at BP.
“As we transition to become net-zero by 2050 and help the world get there too, we must look at new ways to best use our talent, experience, and resources.”
Cullinan said the gallery was “hugely grateful” to BP for its support, saying the award had given a platform to artists from around the world.