“HIGHLY CONCERNING”
In an Instagram post on May 12, NTUDivest called the partnership “highly concerning”, given ExxonMobil’s poor environmental track record, which includes walking away from a much-publicised investment in algae biofuels and blocking investors’ climate proposals.
In its post, NTUDivest wrote: “From climate breakdown to toxic environmental pollution, ExxonMobil is no stranger to downplaying their effects.”
It added that the student group is “extremely doubtful that funding of Singapore’s clean energy transition should be so heavily funded and influenced by one of the most notorious mega oil companies”.
In an emailed response on Sunday (May 26) to TODAY’s queries, NTUDivest said that it was protesting to “ensure that the outcome of this expensive partnership creates positive social and environmental benefits and (is) not a greenwashing project”.
WHAT NTU, EXXON AND A*STAR SAY
In an emailed response to TODAY last week, NTU stated that the new lab is “an important platform bringing together researchers from academia and industry to translate knowledge into solutions that will benefit society by supporting the green energy transition and other areas of sustainability”.
“Working to create low-carbon solutions with industrial partners is exactly the sort of approach that is envisaged in NTU’s 2025 strategic plan,” the university added.
It also said that the lab will “determine its approach to assessing the impact of new technologies as its research programmes take shape”.
Separately, ExxonMobil told TODAY last week that its role in the lab was to contribute towards the adoption of new technologies by the industry.
“To support growing populations and rising standards of living, global demand for energy and products for modern living is projected to increase and governments and industry will have to find ways to meet that demand,” it added.
“An energy transition is underway, but it is not yet happening at the scale or on the timetable required to achieve society’s net-zero ambitions.”
Thus, the company added that it has taken on an “all-of-the-above-approach” mindset, which includes meeting global energy demands while finding solutions for the energy transition through collaboration.
A*Star told TODAY that its mission is to “accelerate the translation of research into practical solutions” and “to help our partners track and reduce their carbon emissions”.