Climate activist Greta Thunberg pulled out of an appearance at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival, after accusing sponsor Baillie Gifford of 'greenwashing.' Photo: AP
Authors appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival are demanding organisers end their links with "fossil fuel companies" - and are threatening a boycott of next year's event if there is no action.
More than 50 of the authors and event chairs taking part in this year's festival - which gets under way on Saturday - have said that if main sponsor Baillie Gifford does not divest billions of cash, organisers should find alternative sponsors.
If this does not happen, all authors should "commit to boycotting the festival in 2024," the group said. Leading writers including Ali Smith, Zadie Smith and Gary Younge have signed the open letter to festival organisers, accusing investment management firm Baillie Gifford of "making huge profits from global disaster."
They added that the firm was seeking to "hide behind esteemed cultural institutions, like the Edinburgh Book Festival, as sanction for its continued operations."
The letter comes in the wake of climate activist Greta Thunberg pulling out of an appearance at this year's event, after accusing Baillie Gifford of "greenwashing."
The investment management firm rejected Thunberg's claims that it invests "heavily" in fossil fuels, saying just 2% of its clients' money was invested in the sector.
However in their open letter to festival organisers, the authors and event chairs said Baillie Gifford "has up to £5bil (RM29.2bil) invested in fossil fuel corporations."
They stated: "These corporations fuel the climate crisis. They're making huge profits from global disaster, and hide behind esteemed cultural institutions, like the Edinburgh Book Festival, as sanction for its continued operations."
The group said they "stand in solidarity with all people harmed by the climate crisis, including people in the global south who have lost their homes, their livelihoods and been forced to migrate."
They also expressed their solidarity with "people in the UK, including those whose homes have been flooded, whose health has been damaged by air pollution, and those who continue to suffer the dire consequences of corporate greed and political negligence."
Yara Rodrigues Fowler, author of There Are More Things, said: "This summer has been defined by global wildfires, flooding and extreme heat: the climate crisis is here."
"In the midst of climate breakdown, Baillie Gifford is investing almost £5bil into the cause of this crisis: companies that profit from the fossil fuel industry."
"Edinburgh International Book Festival allowing them to sponsor cultural events gives them a social licence to continue funding the destruction of our only home."
Mikaela Loach, author of It's Not That Radical: Climate Action To Transform Our World stated: "Edinburgh International Book Festival wouldn't burn books, so why are they OK with burning the planet?"
"Baillie Gifford's whopping £5 billion in investments in corporations making money from the fossil fuel industry is unjustifiable in a climate crisis caused and exacerbated by these same companies who have invested more into climate denial and delay than they have into green energy."
"Edinburgh International Book Festival must stand by their 'Climate Positive' commitment and drop Baillie Gifford as a sponsor." - dpa
