We’re excited to share a new publication in PLOS Climate by researchers from Universiteit Leiden and Solid Sustainability Research on the links between Dutch universities and the tobacco industry – and the lessons it offers for ongoing discussions about fossil fuel ties.
The article shows that, despite the widespread view that such collaborations are inappropriate, clear policies are often lacking and ties have persisted. It also highlights how both the tobacco and fossil fuel industries use similar strategies to influence research, policy and public opinion.
We hope this work contributes to ongoing discussions within universities and across the broader academic ecosystem about how to approach industry partnerships more critically and consistently.
🔗 Read more about the study on the Leiden University website: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2026/05/what-can-universities-learn-from-their-ties-with-the-tobacco-industry
📎 Read the research article in PLOS Climate: https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000867
💼 LinkedIn post which you can share: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7466015952199897088/
🐦 Bsky post which you can share: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:h7256m6bpbrtlojjtwtb3xpc/post/3mmwb2m3hwk2y
Recommendations
- Encourage professional organisations, charities, and medical professionals to speak up about the health risks of fossil fuels and advocate for consistency in how health-harming industries are treated in academia and policymaking.
- Advocate for a WHO framework convention on fossil fuel control, with clear acknowledgment of the conflict of interest of fossil fuel industry in public health and climate action and a ban on lobbying and advertising.
- Increase transparency on academic industry ties, including both direct and indirect funding, to ensure informed decision-making.
- Encourage journals and research funders to develop policies around fossil fuel involvement, similar to those adopted by so-called “tobacco-free” journals and funders.
- Educate researchers and students on industry tactics aimed at delaying regulation and policy change, for instance by integrating this into mandatory ethics training.
- Phase out fossil fuel industry influence in research agenda-setting, research consortia, and public funding programs.
- Critically evaluate new research collaborations with the fossil fuel industry, particularly on energy transition and sustainability projects, to avoid conflicts of interest.
- Task an independent body with monitoring and researching industry tactics, ensuring academic policies remain aligned with public health and climate goals.
Citation: Knoester L, Pereira A, Vanheule L, Elizondo AR, Littlejohn A, Urai AE (2026) Academic collaborations and public health: Lessons from Dutch universities’ tobacco industry partnerships for fossil fuel ties. PLOS Clim 5(5): e0000867. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000867
This project was supported by a seed fund from the Leiden Healthy Society Center of Leiden University and funding from the Climate Social Science Network.
We thank Femke Sleegers and Martine Doppen from Reclame Fossielvrij for discussing ideas and Veerle van Onzenoort for support with various research tasks. We are grateful to Wanda de Kanter, Marc Willemsen, and Marzia Violini for sharing their expert views and reviewing the draft. We acknowledge Jeremy Crowlesmith for the visualisation in Fig 1, and acknowledge the various universities for responding to our information requests.
Figure 1: A Shell advert from 2024 suggesting that its biofuels research leads to a factory making biofuel for cleaner travel. The building of the biofuels factory referenced in the advert was cancelled in September 2025.
Figure 2: Tobacco companies used the authority of health professionals to mislead consumers into thinking their products were not harmful (image courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution).