3 months ago
30
The Queensland Museum has been accused of allowing a sponsorship deal with one of the world’s largest gas corporations to influence educational materials it distributed that teach students about climate change without mentioning fossil fuels.
Comms Declare, a climate advocacy group, released a report on Monday criticising the materials available for teachers to use in Queensland classrooms, which come branded with the logo of Shell QGC – the division of the multinational energy company that drills for natural gas in Queensland.
The resources cover topics including extreme weather, threatened species and ocean acidification, but omit a focus on the role of fossil fuels, including coal and gas, in driving climate change.
Queensland Museum at South Bank in Brisbane.Credit: Queensland Museum
In one example, a resource explains ocean acidification in relation to excess carbon dioxide, without identifying fossil fuels, such as coal, oil or gas combustion, as the cause.
Students are tasked with designing a carbon capture and storage (CSS) process – a contentious and expensive technology that is dismissed by its detractors as promoting the prolonged use of fossil fuels, rather than transitioning to renewable energy.
“Queensland parents should be extremely concerned that their children are being taught biased, half-truths about climate change and the energy future,” said Comms Declare founder Belinda Noble.
“This is climate obstruction dressed up as education. We wouldn’t let Big Tobacco sponsor teaching materials – fossil fuel companies shouldn’t shape how kids learn about the climate.”
The Queensland Museum has held a partnership with Shell’s QCG business since 2015.
In a statement, it said the deal had funded professional development for more than 1,700 teachers, a suite of digital resources and videos, a science and technology career showcase and community events in the regional centres of Chinchilla and Gladstone.
It told the climate group that it maintained full independence in its research, exhibitions and educational activities, and that its partnership with Shell was designed to foster critical thinking, evidence-based learning and engagement with Queensland’s natural history.
A review of the learning resources was already under way, as schools transition to the newest version of the national curriculum, it said.
Shell and Education and Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek have both been contacted for comment.
Greens MP for Maiwar Michael Berkman said Queensland students deserved world-class scientific education, “not thinly veiled propaganda plastered with corporate logos”.
“These materials obscure the role of fossil fuels in climate change, peddle scientifically unproven ‘carbon capture and storage’ myths, and focus on individual action to shirk Shell’s own responsibility,” he said.
“My 14-year-old won’t save ‘poor Nemo’ by ditching plastic straws – the scientific consensus is clear that fossil fuels like those produced by Shell are the greatest threat to our climate and the reef.”
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Most Viewed in National
Loading
