The Science Museum has ended its controversial partnership with oil company Equinor.

For the last eight years the Norwegian fossil fuel company has sponsored the museum’s interactive Wonderlab installation, despite protests over the last year from climate change campaigners around the firm’s role in plans to develop the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea.

But in a statement Science Museum chair Tim Laurence has confirmed that “Equinor’s sponsorship of the museum has drawn to a close at the end of their current contract term”.

“Their contribution has been enormously important to us and has helped inspire hundreds of thousands of young potential engineers and scientists, he said.

“The partnership concludes with our warm appreciation and with our ongoing encouragement to Equinor to continue to raise the bar in their efforts to put in place emissions reduction targets aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.”

He added that “those with whom we partner must demonstrate that they are moving with sufficient urgency along the transition pathway to match our aspirations.”  

Campaign group #StopRosebank has accused Equinor of investing in “greenwashing themselves as leaders of the energy transition”, claiming that less than 1% of its energy production is renewable.

Despite concluding the sponsorship deal with Equinor, Laurence added that the museum’s board “do not agree with those who say we should rule out accepting sponsorship from all companies involved in fossil fuel extraction”.

“After all, they have both the expertise and the wealth to solve the problems that fossil fuels have created,” he said.

“We believe in constructive engagement with companies that will be key in making the global economy less carbon intensive.”

He cites renewable energy work by Equinor to construct “the world’s largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank, off England’s northeast coast”.

However, he added: “The whole energy industry needs to go further faster in the shift to renewable energy.

“As part of the Science Museum Group’s engagement with partners and potential partners in carbon intensive industries, our Trustees use the respected Transition Pathway Initiative to assess their progress on the transition to a low-carbon economy, supporting efforts to mitigate climate change.”

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