Launching a new ad hoc committee focused on climate-related industry engagements
Dear members of the MIT community,
I write today to announce the formation of a new ad hoc committee that will develop recommendations regarding the question of fossil fuel industry funding for the Climate Project at MIT. The committee will be chaired by Anne White, associate vice president for research administration, and will include faculty, students, and staff members.
I encourage you to read the committee’s full charge (below) and to keep reading below for additional information about MIT’s approach to weighing the complex questions around industry involvement in developing climate solutions.
Background on industry engagement to date
MIT has a long and productive history of collaborating with industry to enable forefront research leading to new technologies, processes, tools, and systems for the benefit of society, from advances in computing technology to new mechanisms for drug delivery. This history includes MIT’s decades-long engagement with fossil fuel companies. In recent years, the primary focus of those collaborations has been on decarbonizing the world’s energy system and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
Some members of our community have argued that accepting funding for research on climate-related subjects from companies whose principal business remains the exploration, extraction, and production of fossil fuels – the primary cause of human-induced climate change – presents an inherent conflict.
Others take a view consistent with feedback we heard before and after publication of the Institute’s first climate action plan, in 2015, which noted that rapid progress to respond to climate change would “depend on our collaborating with a wide range of industry partners, from the most disruptive local solar start-ups to fossil fuel giants that have mastered the challenges of delivering energy to millions of households.”
Standing up a new ad hoc committee
Given the focus on climate-related research at the Institute and the launch of the Climate Project at MIT, President Kornbluth, Provost Barnhart, and I believe that it is timely to examine this issue anew.
Of course, individual PIs and existing departments, labs, centers, and institutes will continue to be free to engage in new activities with fossil fuel companies on topics of mutual interest, consistent with MIT policies and procedures for accepting sponsorship and philanthropy.
We are grateful that Anne has agreed to lead this effort. We are still in the process of inviting other faculty as well as students and staff to serve. The committee will consult broadly with the MIT community to develop its recommendations. The committee’s full membership will be posted here in the coming weeks. It will report out its final recommendations by next summer.
Sincerely,
Richard Lester
Interim Vice President for Climate
Charge to the Ad Hoc Committee on Climate-Related Industry Engagements
Since MIT’s inception, many of its most important contributions in education, research, and innovation have been enabled by close working relationships with industry, including with companies engaged in the extraction and production of fossil fuels (“fossil fuel companies”).
At MIT, there is a range of views on the wisdom of continuing to accept funding from fossil fuel companies to support research related to climate change. Some argue that we need to work with these companies, especially in areas where they or we have specific expertise to bring to bear that helps promote positive change. Some also note that, because fossil fuels will be a major part of the global energy mix for years to come, MIT should work with fossil fuel companies to advance technologies that minimize harm and maximize the public interest related to the production and use of fossil fuels. The majority of funding MIT receives from fossil fuel companies today supports projects to decarbonize the global energy system and develop new clean energy technologies.
Others believe that we should not engage with these companies. They argue that these companies’ support for research on low-carbon technologies will inevitably take second place to their interest in maintaining their core fossil fuel businesses and will likely be subsumed by it. They also point out that some of these companies have a history of promoting misinformation and disinformation in the field of climate science.
Still others advocate neither for nor against engagement with fossil fuel companies but take a general stance that the Institute should not prevent individual PIs from collaborating with external partners on research problems that interest them and advance their intellectual objectives, as long as the relationship is consistent with MIT policies for sponsored research, including the intellectual independence of the PI.
The launch of the Climate Project presents an opportunity to revisit the issue, study it, debate it, and consider the best path forward for the Climate Project as our community works together to develop effective responses to the global climate challenge.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Climate-Related Industry Engagements will:
- Review MIT’s current policies and practices regarding climate-related industry engagements, especially those engagements involving companies active in the extraction and production of fossil fuels.
- Consider the benefits and risks associated with working with these companies.
- Recommend whether, when, and under what terms the Climate Project should accept funding from fossil fuel companies.
- Develop general insights and guidance that may be useful for MIT principal investigators, departments, laboratories, and institutes as they consider whether, when, and under what terms to accept funding from fossil fuel companies.
The committee’s deliberations and recommendations will focus on the nature of industry engagements with the Climate Project at MIT. Individual PIs and existing departments, labs, centers, and institutes will continue to be free to engage in new activities with fossil fuel companies on topics of mutual interest, consistent with MIT policies and procedures for accepting sponsorship and philanthropy.
The committee’s draft recommendations will be presented for consideration by the vice president for climate and the climate project mission directors.
The committee will submit its final recommendations to the vice president for climate by August 31, 2025.