LONDON — Accepting money from arms companies has long been unthinkable for most arts organizations in Europe. This year, taking money from the Sackler family, which has been linked to the opioid crisis, became taboo for many of them, too.

Now, artists and activists say oil and gas money should be added to that list.

On Friday, 78 British artists including Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Sarah Lucas said they had called on the National Portrait Gallery in London to cut ties with BP, saying its “role in furthering the climate crisis” made accepting new sponsorship from the company unacceptable.

“ We believe that, today, the loss of BP as a source of funding is a cost worth bearing,” the artists said in an open letter to the museum.

BP acknowledges climate change is a significant problem but is only investing 3 percent of its available capital in renewable energy , the letter said. This was a “glaring contradiction between words and actions,” the letter added.