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Authors threaten boycott of Edinburgh book festival over sponsors’ fossil fuel links
(www.theguardian.com)
This is the best summary I could come up with:
An open letter signed by a group of more than 50 authors and event chairs stated that these corporations are “making huge profits from global disaster, and hide behind esteemed cultural institutions, like the Edinburgh book festival, as sanction for its continued operations”.
The letter, which has also been signed by journalist and author Gary Younge and novelist Jessie Burton, asks that Baillie Gifford stops investing in fossil fuel companies.
This comes after climate activist Greta Thunberg pulled out of her scheduled appearance at the festival earlier this month, accusing Baillie Gifford of “greenwashing”.
“Edinburgh international book festival allowing them to sponsor cultural events gives them a social licence to continue funding the destruction of our only home,” she added.
However, the representative went on to say that the firm would like to draw attention to the notes at the end of the statement, specifically a section that reads: “Baillie Gifford describes its investment style as ‘long-term growth’.
These notes highlight that 2% of Baillie Gifford’s clients’ money is invested in companies with more than 5% of their revenue coming from some form of fossil fuel activities, compared with the market average of 11%.
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