Darren Woods, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, last year. Photograph: Gavin John/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The world is off track to meet its climate goals and the public is to blame, Darren Woods, chief executive of oil giant ExxonMobil, has claimed – prompting a backlash from climate experts.
As the world’s largest investor-owned oil company, Exxon is among the top contributors to global planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions. But in an interview, published on Tuesday, Woods argued that big oil is not primarily responsible for the climate crisis.
The real issue, Woods said, is that the clean-energy transition may prove too expensive for consumers’ liking.
“The dirty secret nobody talks about is how much all this is going to cost and who’s willing to pay for it,” he told Fortune last week. “The people who are generating those emissions need to be aware of and pay the price for generating those emissions. That is ultimately how you solve the problem.” *
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Troves of internal documents and analyses have over the past decade established that Exxon knew of the dangers of global heating as far back as the 1970s, but forcefully and successfully worked to sow doubt about the climate crisis and stymie action to clamp down on fossil fuel usage. The revelations have inspired litigation against Exxon across the US.
“What they’re really trying to do is to whitewash their own history, to make it invisible,” said Robert Brulle, an environment policy expert at Brown University who has researched climate disinformation spread by the fossil-fuel industry.
A 2021 analysis also demonstrated that Exxon had downplayed its own role in the climate crisis for decades in public-facing messaging.
“The playbook is this: sell consumers a product that you know is dangerous, while publicly denying or downplaying those dangers. Then, when the dangers are no longer deniable, deny responsibility and blame the consumer,” said Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard historian of science and co-author of the 2021 paper.
* No, ultimately how you solve the problem is that you don’t create emissions through using sustainable, renewable energy. It’s also not accepted that renewable energy is any more expensive. I’d say that you’re just an evil climate destroyer for profit and fossil fuel BSter.
Exploiting a “trade finance” loophole, the bank dumped an estimated $3.7 billion into oil and gas projects in 2022.
Cyclists take over rush hour traffic outside World Bank headquarters and urge the bank’s president to end funding for fossil fuels on April 10, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Kevin Wolf/AP Images for Glasgow Actions Team)
An analysis released Tuesday by the German nonprofit Urgewald estimated that the World Bank spent nearly $4 billion on fossil fuel financing last year, when it was under the leadership of a climate denier nominated by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The World Bank pledged in 2017 to end financing for upstream oil and gas—with narrow exceptions—after 2019. But Urgewald observed in its new report that the World Bank’s pledge applied only to direct finance, allowing the powerful institution to funnel cash to oil and gas projects through “trade finance” dished out by its private-sector arm, the (IFC).
“Despite trade finance’s vast and still-growing share of the IFC’s budget, over 70% of it is given out in secrecy,” Urgewald noted. “The types of goods and businesses it is funding are not even reported to the World Bank’s shareholders, i.e., our governments. The public has a right to know where all this money is going.”
Citing the IFC’s “severe lack of transparency,” Urgewald stressed that it was only able to “formulate an estimate” for oil and gas transactions. The group calculated that the World Bank spent roughly $3.7 billion on oil and gas trade finance in 2022.
“This would more than triple the current annual level of fossil fuel finance attributed to the World Bank and cast serious doubts on Bank claims of alignment with the Paris Climate Agreement,” Urgewald’s Heike Meinhardt said in a statement.
“The easiest way for a big oil company or coal operation to escape attention surrounding public assistance is to cloak it in trade finance.”
The World Bank has long been accused of reneging on its climate commitments. A report released last year by Big Shift Global estimated that the World Bank has spent nearly $15 billion supporting fossil fuels since the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.
Late last year, former World Bank President David Malpass sparked global outrage by saying he’s not sure whether he accepts the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, further validating climate activists’ longstanding calls for systemic reforms at the bank.
“I don’t know,” Malpass said in response to a reporter’s question about his views on climate change. “I’m not a scientist.”
The comments prompted widespread calls for Malpass to step down, which he did in June. Current World Bank President Ajay Banga, who U.S. President Joe Biden nominated to replace Malpass, is a former private equity executive who has worked for Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Citibank.
Urgewald warned in its report Tuesday that the World Bank will remain a major source of funding for the fossil fuel industry until it enacts reforms that prevent the IFC from bolstering oil and gas under the guise of “trade finance.”
“The easiest way for a big oil company or coal operation to escape attention surrounding public assistance is to cloak it in trade finance,” the group said. “It is a huge loophole that must be closed and evaluated through public disclosure.”
Urgewald added that “there is no doubt” the World Bank and IFC “are going to deny” its findings and “claim the figures are inaccurate.”
That’s exactly what an IFC spokesperson did on Tuesday, tellingThe Guardian that “Urgewald’s report contains serious factual inaccuracies and grossly overstates IFC’s support for fossil fuels.”
“IFC regularly reports accurate and timely project information through various channels,” the spokesperson added.
Urgewald disputed that narrative in its report, asserting that the “continued secrecy surrounding trade finance makes it impossible to determine how much fossil fuel business the IFC is ultimately facilitating and whether the World Bank is actually aligned with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.”
“An exorbitant amount of IFC money, i.e., more than half its budget, is streaming through banks without any oversight by the [World Bank Board of Directors], without any opportunity for public scrutiny, without any accountability,” the group said.
Gail Bradbrook, a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion.
As deadly temperature records are set daily, the silencing of those that would speak truth to power can be felt. And it’s chilling.
There has been a pattern in recent climate protector trials where defendants are told they don’t have a defence in law, that anything they want to say in their defence is inadmissible and irrelevant and that they can’t inform the jury of the jury’s long-established right to make decisions based on their conscience. Moreover, people are threatened with imprisonment, and sometimes even imprisoned, if they do.
The trial of Dr Gail Bradbrook
The long-postponed jury trial of Dr. Gail Bradbrook, cofounder of XR, for breaking a window at the UK’s Department for Transport – supposedly valued at £27.5k – in October 2019 [1] began sitting on Monday this week (17 July). [2]
On Tuesday Judge Martin Edmunds dismissed the jury and aborted the trial. He has now set a retrial for the week commencing 30 October, which is scheduled to last for four days instead of five. This means that the retrial is fortuitously set to take place during the fifth anniversary of the Declaration of Rebellion [3] on 31 October 2018 and Extinction Rebellion’s first major action. [4]
We are not allowed to give further details due to reporting restrictions which are now in place.
Before the trial Gail said: “I’m trying to protect the lives and the futures of my children, all the children in the world and the generations to come.”
Gail, a mother of two who holds a doctorate in molecular biophysics from the University of Manchester, potentially faces up to four years in jail if found guilty for the Department for Transport action, which aimed to get the government to take adequate and appropriate action on the climate and nature emergencies. She has pleaded not guilty to the charge of criminal damage arguing that while she did break the window, she did it as an act of conscientious protection – a concept not yet recognised in current law.
The silencing and imprisonment of climate protectors
The Conservative government’s legislative clampdown is placing severe limits on the right of protest [5] [6].
Furthermore, since February 2023, three climate protectors have been jailed for six to eight weeks – just for mentioning the words climate change or fuel poverty to a jury, when attempting to explain why they undertook their actions. [7] [8] [9]
Gail’s trial was postponed several times across four years to take account of various rulings, notably including the Colston statue case, which alongside other rulings rendered specific legal defences to be no longer valid, thus an excuse for the court systems to silence protestors. [10] [11]. There has been a pattern of jury acquittals in direct action cases, which have embarrassed the government and enraged certain sections of the press. [12]
“Juries must be allowed to have the evidence regarding current law, as well as the wider context,” added Gail. “On this basis, they may serve justice rather than power, by asserting their right to reach a verdict based on their conscience.
”It is now common in the trial of climate protectors for the judge to rule that defendants are not allowed to speak about their motivations in court, denying them the right to a fair trial, an absolute right under the Human Rights Act.”
Quotes
Actress Emma Thompson: “In the same way we honour the women who broke windows to gain the vote, so we will honour the people who break windows in order to gain real action in the face of deadly climate collapse.
“People who risk losing their freedom for the sake of other humans and for the protection of all future generations are not criminals but heroes.”
Cathy Eastburn, a supporter of XR, Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain, who has spent time in prison as a result of her nonviolent direct action to sound the alarm and instigate action on climate change: “Juries regularly acquit protectorsif we are able to explain our motivations and the context for our actions. The government and the courts have responded by eroding trial by jury – a highly valued central tenet of our legal system – by stealth. We are being silenced and no longer have the right to defend ourselves, nor to a fair trial. And if we stand up for ourselves against the dictates of the court, we are sent to jail.”
Kofi Mawuli Klu, Co-vice-chair, Pan-Afrikan Reparations Coalition in Europe: “The former colonies look up to the UK’s justice system regarding it as the gold standard. These ‘show trials’ of climate protectors are permanently damaging the reputation of the UK in the majority world. The UK must practise what it preaches, and preserve the right to a fair trial – as well as deliver on its climate change commitments.”
Gail Bradbrook and Extinction Rebellion
Gail Bradbrook co-founded Extinction Rebellion in 2018 after a period of research, preparation and network building.
A mother of two teenage boys, she holds a doctorate in molecular biophysics from the University of Manchester, alongside several prizes and awards for her undergraduate degree, including the Royal Society of Chemistry’s best chemist award and a Wellcome Scholarship. She was named by GQ as one of the most influential people in Britain and honoured in the BBC Woman’s Hour Power List 2020: Our Planet – celebrating UK women making a significant contribution to the health and sustainability of the environment.
After XR’s first rebellion in April 2019, the UK parliament declared a Climate and Environment Emergency, but the government has subsequently failed to act with the necessary urgency. The government is now making things worse by licensing new oil, coal and gas developments that are incompatible with a 1.5C world [13] [14]. XR is now a global movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to put pressure on institutions to act on the climate and nature emergencies. In April this year, XR UK joined forces with over 200 organisations to bring 100,000 people together outside the UK’s parliament across four days to demand an end to the fossil fuel era, implement emergency citizens assemblies and reparations. [15]
[4] 15 environmental protesters arrested at civil disobedience campaign in London https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/31/15-environmental-protesters-arrested-at-civil-disobedience-campaign-in-london
Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a decentralised, international and politically non-partisan movement using non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to persuade governments to act justly on the Climate and Ecological Emergency.
Donate | Support our work What Emergency? | Read about the true scale of the climate crisisAs deadly temperature records are set daily, the silencing of those that would speak truth to power can be felt. And it’s chilling. There has been a pattern in recent climate protector trials where defendants are told they don’t have a defence in law, that anything they want to say in their defence is inadmissible and irrelevant and that they can’t inform the jury of the jury’s long-established right to make decisions based on their conscience. Moreover, people are threatened with imprisonment, and sometimes even imprisoned, if they do. The trial of Dr Gail Bradbrook The long-postponed jury trial of Dr. Gail Bradbrook, cofounder of XR, for breaking a window at the UK’s Department for Transport – supposedly valued at £27.5k – in October 2019 [1] began sitting on Monday this week (17 July). [2] On Tuesday Judge Martin Edmunds dismissed the jury and aborted the trial. He has now set a retrial for the week commencing 30 October, which is scheduled to last for four days instead of five. This means that the retrial is fortuitously set to take place during the fifth anniversary of the Declaration of Rebellion [3] on 31 October 2018 and Extinction Rebellion’s first major action. [4] We are not allowed to give further details due to reporting restrictions which are now in place. Before the trial Gail said: “I’m trying to protect the lives and the futures of my children, all the children in the world and the generations to come.” Gail, a mother of two who holds a doctorate in molecular biophysics from the University of Manchester, potentially faces up to four years in jail if found guilty for the Department for Transport action, which aimed to get the government to take adequate and appropriate action on the climate and nature emergencies. She has pleaded not guilty to the charge of criminal damage arguing that while she did break the window, she did it as an act of conscientious protection – a concept not yet recognised in current law. The silencing and imprisonment of climate protectors The Conservative government’s legislative clampdown is placing severe limits on the right of protest [5] [6]. Furthermore, since February 2023, three climate protectors have been jailed for six to eight weeks – just for mentioning the words climate change or fuel poverty to a jury, when attempting to explain why they undertook their actions. [7] [8] [9] Gail’s trial was postponed several times across four years to take account of various rulings, notably including the Colston statue case, which alongside other rulings rendered specific legal defences to be no longer valid, thus an excuse for the court systems to silence protestors. [10] [11]. There has been a pattern of jury acquittals in direct action cases, which have embarrassed the government and enraged certain sections of the press. [12] “Juries must be allowed to have the evidence regarding current law, as well as the wider context,” added Gail. “On this basis, they may serve justice rather than power, by asserting their right to reach a verdict based on their conscience. ”It is now common in the trial of climate protectors for the judge to rule that defendants are not allowed to speak about their motivations in court, denying them the right to a fair trial, an absolute right under the Human Rights Act.” Quotes Actress Emma Thompson: “In the same way we honour the women who broke windows to gain the vote, so we will honour the people who break windows in order to gain real action in the face of deadly climate collapse. “People who risk losing their freedom for the sake of other humans and for the protection of all future generations are not criminals but heroes.” Cathy Eastburn, a supporter of XR, Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain, who has spent time in prison as a result of her nonviolent direct action to sound the alarm and instigate action on climate change: “Juries regularly acquit protectors if we are able to explain our motivations and the context for our actions. The government and the courts have responded by eroding trial by jury – a highly valued central tenet of our legal system – by stealth. We are being silenced and no longer have the right to defend ourselves, nor to a fair trial. And if we stand up for ourselves against the dictates of the court, we are sent to jail.” Kofi Mawuli Klu, Co-vice-chair, Pan-Afrikan Reparations Coalition in Europe: “The former colonies look up to the UK’s justice system regarding it as the gold standard. These ‘show trials’ of climate protectors are permanently damaging the reputation of the UK in the majority world. The UK must practise what it preaches, and preserve the right to a fair trial – as well as deliver on its climate change commitments.” Gail Bradbrook and Extinction Rebellion Gail Bradbrook co-founded Extinction Rebellion in 2018 after a period of research, preparation and network building. A mother of two teenage boys, she holds a doctorate in molecular biophysics from the University of Manchester, alongside several prizes and awards for her undergraduate degree, including the Royal Society of Chemistry’s best chemist award and a Wellcome Scholarship. She was named by GQ as one of the most influential people in Britain and honoured in the BBC Woman’s Hour Power List 2020: Our Planet – celebrating UK women making a significant contribution to the health and sustainability of the environment. After XR’s first rebellion in April 2019, the UK parliament declared a Climate and Environment Emergency, but the government has subsequently failed to act with the necessary urgency. The government is now making things worse by licensing new oil, coal and gas developments that are incompatible with a 1.5C world [13] [14]. XR is now a global movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to put pressure on institutions to act on the climate and nature emergencies. In April this year, XR UK joined forces with over 200 organisations to bring 100,000 people together outside the UK’s parliament across four days to demand an end to the fossil fuel era, implement emergency citizens assemblies and reparations. [15] Notes for editors: [1] Extinction Rebellion disrupt UKs Department for Transport – where is the plan to meet a net zero target and halt biodiversity loss? https://extinctionrebellion.uk/2019/10/15/extinction-rebellion-disrupt-uks-department-for-transport-where-is-the-plan-to-meet-a-net-zero-target-and-halt-biodiversity-loss/ [2] Extinction Rebellion protestor ‘caused £27,000 worth of damage to government building’ https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/17/extinction-rebellion-protester-27000-damage-government-building [3] Declaration of Rebellion, Extinction Rebellion 2018 https://extinctionrebellion.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/XR-A3-declaration-V1.pdf [4] 15 environmental protesters arrested at civil disobedience campaign in London https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/31/15-environmental-protesters-arrested-at-civil-disobedience-campaign-in-london [5] UN rights chief urges UK to reverse ‘troubling’ Public Order Bill https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/un-rights-chief-urges-uk-reverse-troubling-public-order-bill-2023-04-27/ [6] Liberty launches legal action against home secretary for overriding parliament on protest powers https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/liberty-launches-legal-action-against-home-secretary-for-overriding-parliament-on-protest-powers/ [7] Insulate Britain activist jailed for eight weeks for contempt of court https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/07/insulate-britain-activist-david-nixon-jailed-for-eight-weeks-for-contempt-of-court [8] Activists jailed for seven weeks for defying ban on mentioning climate crisis https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/activists-jailed-for-seven-weeks-for-defying-ban-on-mentioning-climate-crisis/ [9] Protesters must be allowed to explain motives in court https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/protesters-must-be-allowed-to-explain-motives-in-court-zhpg2g3gs [10] Extinction Rebellion co-founder’s trial delayed by Colston review https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-61154538 [11] Extinction Rebellion protester to face trial after Court of Appeal ruling https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-64044348 [12] The Stealth Undermining of Trial by Jury https://planb.earth/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/The-Stealth-Undermining-of-Trial-by-Jury.pdf [13] New fossil fuels ‘incompatible’ with 1.5C goal, comprehensive analysis finds https://www.carbonbrief.org/new-fossil-fuels-incompatible-with-1-5c-goal-comprehensive-analysis-finds/ [14] Lord Deben backs Labour’s plan to halt new North Sea oil and gas drilling https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jun/06/lord-deben-backs-labours-plan-to-halt-new-north-sea-oil-and-gas-drilling [15] The Big One: Our Collective Demand https://extinctionrebellion.uk/the-big-one/collective-demand/ About Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a decentralised, international and politically non-partisan movement using non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to persuade governments to act justly on the Climate and Ecological Emergency. Donate | Support our work What Emergency? | Read about the true scale of the climate crisis XR UK Local Groups | View a map of all local groups XR UK website | Find out more about XRUK XR Global website | Discover what’s going on in XR around the globe! Time has almost entirely run out to address the climate and ecological crisis which is upon us, including the sixth mass species extinction, global pollution, and increasingly rapid climate change. If urgent and radical action isn’t taken, we’re heading towards 4˚C warming, leading to societal collapse and mass loss of life. The younger generation, racially marginalised communities and the Global South are on the front-line. No-one will escape the devastating impacts. XR UK Local Groups | View a map of all local groups XR UK website | Find out more about XRUK XR Global website | Discover what’s going on in XR around the globe!
Time has almost entirely run out to address the climate and ecological crisis which is upon us, including the sixth mass species extinction, global pollution, and increasingly rapid climate change. If urgent and radical action isn’t taken, we’re heading towards 4˚C warming, leading to societal collapse and mass loss of life. The younger generation, racially marginalised communities and the Global South are on the front-line. No-one will escape the devastating impacts.
The new free market ‘taskforce’ is almost entirely made up of senior figures from US and UK think tanks who have been funded by fossil fuels, climate change deniers, and more.
Liz Truss was back in the headlines this week, when she appeared at the launch of a new lobby group called the Growth Commission on Wednesday.
Some commentators pointed out the irony of a prime minister who tanked the pound – and failed to outlast a lettuce – saying that her widely criticised mini budget “may pay off in the long term”.
Truss’s acolytes, on the other hand, lapped it up. Conservative MP Simon Clarke was even given a column in the Timesto talk up the Growth Commission.
But what is the Growth Commission? And, more importantly, who is funding it?
I decided to take a look. And guess what? The self-styled free market task force seems to be yet another dark money outfit in British politics – led by senior figures from US and UK free market think tanks who have been funded by fossil fuels, the Koch Brothers, climate change deniers, the tobacco industry and much more.
A spokesman for the commission told me that it is funded by donations from private individuals. It wouldn’t give any names.
You might expect that after the disaster of Truss’s short-lived free market experiment, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) would be keeping a low profile. But you’d be wrong.
The IEA is the oldest think tank in Britain, with a history of taking money from tobacco companies, big oil, and has received millions from foundations funded by US billionaires, some of which have been among the biggest sponsors of climate change denial.
The 13 ‘commissioners’ listed on the Growth Commission website – Truss is not one of them – include two IEA veterans: Truss’s former advisor Shanker Singham, and IEA Economics Fellow Julian Jessop.
The Growth Commission describes Singham as “one of the world’s leading international trade experts”. (Some trade experts have disagreed.)
What is indisputable is that Singham is among the most active lobbyists on the free market right in Britain. In recent years, Singham has worked for Legatum, then the IEA, earning rebukes from the Charity Commission for his Brexit trade papers at both Legatum and the IEA.
Singham also runs his own lobbying firm called Competere. Competere doesn’t list its clients, but it has had over a dozen meetings with government ministers in less than two years.
I have sent Freedom of Information requests about many of Competere’s meetings, and I am still waiting for information. (Full disclosure: Singham previously stepped down as an advisor to then International Trade secretary Liam Fox in 2018 after I revealed he had also taken a job with a lobbying outfit.)
‘Ground Zero for Deregulation’
Almost a quarter of the Growth Commission is made up staff from the Mercatus Center, a right wing think tank operating out of George Mason University that has been described as “ground zero for deregulation policy in Washington”.
The chairman of the Mercatus Center, Tyler Cowen, and Mercatus Centre fellows Alden Abbott and Christine McDaniel are all listed on the Growth Commission.
Founded in 1978 by a former vice-president of Koch Industries – a serial funder of climate science denial – Mercatus has been particularly active in pushing for environmental deregulation.
Mercatus has previously suggested that climate change is “beneficial” and “making humans better off” and recommended “work to facilitate movement of people from areas likely to be harmed by climate change” instead of lowering emissions.
Another Growth Commissioner, Ewen Stewart, is director of Global Britain, a Eurosceptic think tank co-founded by former UKIP leader Malcolm (Lord) Pearson.
Stewart’s co-director at Global British, former Scottish Tory Member of Scottish Parliament Brian Montieth, was behind a slew of dark money funded Facebook ads in the run-up to the 2021 Scottish parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, commissioner Stephen J. Entin comes from the US-based Tax Foundation, which has been heavily bankrolled by the Koch Brothers, who also heavily funded influential Washington right wing think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and Americans for Prosperity.
‘Victim of a Political Conspiracy’
Truss is a big fan of US conservative think tanks: in April, she gave a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington in which she praised Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and portrayed herself as a victim of a political conspiracy.
I asked the Growth Commission who its funders were and was told: “Commissioners serve voluntarily, with travel expenses and costs for auxiliary support like report printing covered by the Growth Initiative Ltd, which receives donations from private individuals.”
The Growth Commission would not say what private donations it had received, but it did correct its website after I asked for evidence for the claim that commissioner Srinivasa Rangan currently held a position at Harvard. (He had previously been attached to the university.)
Rangan is currently a professor at Babson College, a private business school near Boston where Shanker Singham was previously based. Singham led a project that aimed to create low-tax, privatised ‘enterprise cities’ across the globe.
The Growth Commission has said that rather than outlining policy suggestions it will focus on analysis around ‘large scale fiscal events’.
Presumably this will include climate change. Truss has long been a firm friend of the fossil fuel industry. Her Tory leadership campaign took £100,000 from the wife of a former BP executive. She has backed fracking (and been backed by fracking interests), and more. (George Monbiot has an excellent run through of Truss’s environmental positions here.)
Wonder what position the Growth Commission will take on climate?
This article was originally published on Peter Geoghegan’s Substack, Democracy for Sale.
Tom Brake is the Director of Unlock Democracy which campaigns for real democracy in the UK, protected by a written constitution.
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The connection between Truss and the IEA goes back a long way: according to Tim Montgomerie, the founder of Conservative Home, the IEA had “incubated” Truss – and her key ally, former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng – when they were junior MPs. With their assumption of high office, Britain was to become a “laboratory” for the IEA’s ideas, he said.
Although Truss’ relationship with the IEA is remarkable for its extreme proximity, politicians being close to particular institutions is nothing new. Politicians often find themselves drawn to particular interests and ideas, and so will gravitate toward institutions that reinforce or augment their thinking.
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There is no requirement, either, for think tanks to be transparent about the sources of their funding. In fact, for some, it is impossible to find out who their big donors are. A comparative assessment of the transparency ratings of various think tanks can be viewed here: Unlock Democracy has the highest rating of openness; the IEA, meanwhile, has the lowest rating.
Without being able to follow the money, we cannot hope to understand the interests (commercial or national) that may underpin donations to think tanks, or determine whether those giving money are based in the UK. While it is expected that any foreign funds are most likely to come from rich donors or corporations rather than foreign governments, these donors may still have very close links with a foreign government and seek to shape UK policy in line with the interests of those Governments. Without the data, we just don’t know.
If a think tank advocates for a more relaxed attitude to climate change, the public, the media and Ministers are likely to scrutinise their proposals more carefully if they can see that an oil company is one of its major donors. The same can be said for a think tank that opposes measures to cut smoking when a tobacco manufacturer contributes a significant sum to its budget. Without full transparency of funding – something which the Government has already committed to ensure for the tobacco industry but has not yet delivered – this scrutiny cannot be guaranteed.
