Who is “Making Waves” at the British Science Festival?

Would you like to sponsor the British Science Festival?

Visit their website and click through to find a tempting offer: “Opportunity for your company to be involved in Festival programming – highlighting your current agenda”.

The British Science Association’s dual aims of promoting the public understanding of science and promoting its sponsor’s current agenda could come into conflict with each other.

An apparent conflict of interest. But why is that important?

Well, the Science Festival receives extensive press coverage. A private company who gets to decide what goes into the British Science Festival programme (or who stays out) has a hidden influence on our national conversation. It is potentially changing public priorities in a democracy, and drawing attention away from vital issues facing the human race today.

The public understanding of Science is a cultural activity, educational and fun, but it doesn’t stop there. It is vital for our national community to understand and debate the major scientific issues of the day.

The existence of the conflict of interest is enough to raise serious doubt.

Moral questions.

Countless people are already suffering extreme hardship from the effects of human-induced climate change. It claims 300 000 lives per year in a current estimate by the Global Humanitarian Forum.

Institutions all over the world are disinvesting from fossil fuel companies for moral reasons. The British Science Association has raised moral concerns by collaborating with the fossil fuel industry, even if it were only by lending them publicity.

“Let us hope it is not true, but if it is, let us pray that it will not become generally known.”

– Attributed to the Bishop’s wife on hearing of Charles Darwin’s new theory. Thankfully, this didn’t stop Thomas Huxley debating the theory at the British Association in 1860.

We live in different times now. The prayer now has a more sinister sense. It is not a prayer but a business strategy. It is happening in the UK and elsewhere.

The last line of James Hansen’s famous paper on atmospheric CO₂: “The greatest danger is continued ignorance and denial, which could make tragic consequences unavoidable.”