<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/selling-integrity-nearly-two-thirds-of-australias-universities-take-fossil-fuel-money/>
"New research by public policy think tank The Australia Institute shows that 26
out of Australia’s 37 universities have financial links to fossil fuel
companies.
The new report, ‘Fossil-fuelled universities’, sought to examine and publicise
the extent to which fossil fuel companies are involved in Australian
universities.
According to The Australia Institute, 26 Australian universities have links to
fossil fuel companies through scholarships and grants, funded graduate
programs, internships, and academic positions. Fossil fuel company names adorn
university buildings, school, and research centres.
“Coal and gas companies should not be funding science in the 2020s,” said Rod
Campbell, research director at The Australia Institute.
Maybe the most notable such partnership is the one between Monash University
and Woodside Energy, Australia’s largest domestic gas producer.
Monash signed a partnership with Woodside in 2016 – the same year the
university also promised to divest from fossil fuels.
Since then, the collaboration – billed as a “major research partnership … to
progress energy solutions for a lower carbon future” – has expanded to create
the Woodside-Monash FutureLab (since changed to Monash FutureLab).
The partnership has also yielded the Woodside Building for Technology and
Design, where Monash “students and researchers can embrace innovation, design,
and cutting-edge technology to develop new solutions in sustainable energy
technology.”
The naming rights to university buildings is not all that Woodside has secured
through its partnership with Monash University.
According to The Australia Institute, Monash hosted an exclusive conference
with Woodside at the university’s campus in Tuscany, Italy, which featured gas
industry executives, Monash staff, and at least one politician. (The report
referenced the results of an investigation published in June by
Drilled.)
Monash University also plays host to the Monash Energy Institute, which the
report claims is funded by Woodside and also by Australian gentailer AGL Energy
(alongside United Energy and GE).
Softening the blow somewhat is the fact that the Institute “is working to
accelerate the transition towards a sustainable energy future by fostering and
facilitating impactful interdisciplinary research, in collaboration with its
trusted partners.”
But Monash University is by no means the only university to secure fossil fuel
funding to support research centres, with the report identifying 24 across 19
different universities.
Again, however, many of these research centres are specifically targeting ways
to accelerate the transition to net-zero through a variety of research
streams."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
