Open letter. Friday 11 August 2023
Edinburgh Festival author statement
According to the International Energy Agency, there can be no more new investments in fossil fuels if we want a liveable future.[1]
Baille Gifford investment firm – lead sponsor of this festival – has up to £5bn invested in fossil fuel corporations.[2]
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 only meaningful change is divestment. I call on Baillie Gifford to divest its £5bn from fossil fuel companies. If it does not do so, I call on the Edinburgh Book Festival to find alternative sponsors for 2024. If it does not, I call on all authors to commit to boycotting the festival in 2024.
I 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. I stand in 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.
Signed,
- Aja Barber
- Ali Smith
- Amy Key
- Anahit Behrooz
- Angela Saini
- Anita Sethi
- Annabel sowemimo
- Anthony Anaxagorou
- Ben Bailey Smith
- Caoilinn Hughes
- Cecile Pin
- Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff
- Chitra Ramaswamy
- Chloe Aridjis
- Daisy Johnson
- Daisy Lafarge
- Dan Richards
- David Farrier
- Derek Owusu
- Dr Ronx Ikharia
- Eliza Clark
- Eris Young
- Evie Wyld
- Gary Younge
- Gina Martin
- Guy Gunaratne
- Hanna Flint
- Hannah Lowe
- Imogen Hermes Gowar
- Imogen West-Knights
- Inua
- Isabel Waidner
- Isabella Hammad
- Jacqueline Rose
- Jen Calleja
- Jess Brough
- Jessica Gaitan Johannesson
- Jessie Burton
- JLM Morton
- Joanna Biggs
- Josie Long
- K Patrick
- Katherine Rundell
- Katie Holten
- Kerri ní Dochartaigh
- Kim Sherwood
- Kiran Millwood Hargrave
- Lauren Elkin
- Lex Croucher
- Liv Little
- Liz Jensen
- Malachi McIntosh
- Michael Magee
- Mikaela Loach
- Mohamed Tonsy
- Monica Heisey
- Monique Roffey
- Musa Okwonga
- Mya-Rose Craig
- Nell Stevens
- Nick Laird
- Nicole Flattery
- Nikesh Shukla
- Nikita Gill
- Nina Mingya Powles
- Octavia Bright
- Olivia Sudjic
- Paul Ewen
- Rachel Connolly
- Rachelle Atalla
- Raymond Antrobus
- Rebecca May Johnson
- Rebecca Tamás
- Saba Sams
- Salena Godden
- Sara Baume
- Sarah Bernstein
- Sophie Mackintosh
- Sunny Singh
- Susannah Dickey
- Tice Cin
- Toby Litt
- Victoria Adukwei Bulley
- Victoria Spratt
- Yara Rodrigues Fowler
- Yomi Adegoke
- Zadie Smith
- 'No new oil, gas or coal development if world is to reach net zero by 2050, says world energy body, The Guardian. ↩
- An estimation based on Baillie Gifford’s TCFD Climate Report which states their investments in companies which make more than 5% of their revenues from oil, gas and thermal coal mining and sale activities. ↩