Renowned 20-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg has announced that she has cancelled her Edinburgh Book Festival appearance this month.
She had been scheduled to appear at the “It’s Not Too Late to Change the World” event to promote her book, “The Climate Book”. She has pulled out in protest against the Festival being sponsored by Baillie Gifford.
Baillie Gifford is an independent investment management firm that has sponsored the Edinburgh Book Festival for nineteen years. Thunberg has claimed that the company “invest[s] heavily in the fossil fuel industry”, and accused the event of greenwashing.
“As a climate activist, I cannot attend an event which receives sponsorship from Baillie Gifford,” she said in her statement. “Greenwashing efforts by the fossil fuel industry – including sponsorship of cultural events – allow them to keep the social license to continue operating.”
The term ‘greenwashing’ refers to companies purporting to be more climate-friendly than they actually are, offering cheap, small-scale solutions designed to appease the media while still ultimately perpetuating climate damage. For instance, Greta claims that Edinburgh Book Festival’s event about climate change is undermined by receiving sponsorship from a company investing in fossil fuels.
However, her decision has been met with some criticism. Nick Barley, Director of the Festival, “applaud[ed]” Greta’s principles, but stood firm on his decision to receive sponsorship from Baillie Gifford:
“The Book Festival exists to give a platform for debate and discussion around key issues affecting humanity today – including the climate emergency. As a charitable organisation, we would not be in a position to provide that platform without the long-term support of organisations such as Baillie Gifford.
We strongly believe that Baillie Gifford are part of the solution to the climate emergency. They are early investors in progressive climate-positive companies, providing funds to help them grow. While they acknowledge there is still work to do, we have seen them make rapid progress throughout our 19-year relationship.”
He then proceeded to apologise to all the ticket-holders who had booked specifically to meet Thunberg.
Baillie Gifford also defended themselves and their decision to support the Edinburgh Book Festival, stating that “we believe in open debate and discussion which is why we are long-term supporters…”. They have also described their investment style as “long-term growth”, hence their continued small investments in fossil fuels.
“We are not a significant fossil fuel investor,” they announced. “Only 2% of our clients’ money is invested in companies with some business related to fossil fuels. This compares to the market average of 11%. Of those companies, some have already moved most of their business away from fossil fuels, and many are helping to drive the transition to clean energy.” They proceeded to state that they have moved away from traditional fossil fuel companies over long time periods and that 5% of their clients’ money is invested in companies entirely centred on clean energy solutions.
“It’s Not Too Late to Change the World” was due to take place on August 13th, chaired by Gemma Cairney. For now, other climate-based Book Festival events are still taking place, such as Mikaela Loach’s “Changing the Climate Narrative” on August 12th, the Festival’s opening day.
Image “Greta Thunberg” by World Economic Forum is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.