EDINBURGH: Authors have staged a walkout from the Edinburgh International Book Festival in protest at its links to “fossil fuel companies”, reported German news agency (dpa).
Author and climate activist Mikaela Loach interrupted her panel discussion on Saturday evening to stand against the festival’s main sponsor Baillie Gifford, accusing them of investing in “companies who make money from fossil fuels”.
It comes after more than 50 authors taking part in this year’s festival signed an open letter demanding organisers to find alternative sponsors if the investment management firm does not divest billions of cash.
Leading writers, including Ali Smith, Zadie Smith and Gary Younge, have threatened that if no action is taken, they will boycott next year’s event.
In a video shared by Loach on Instagram on Sunday, it showed the author stopping her discussion, titled ‘Changing the Climate Narrative’, saying: “I can’t actually in good faith continue just talking about these issues without doing something, especially given that the festival is sponsored by an investment firm that is bankrolling this climate crisis.
“Baillie Gifford are an investment firm that have £5 billion (US$6.35 billion) of investments in the fossil fuel industry. Edinburgh Book Festival, you wouldn’t burn books, so why are you burning the planet? Drop Baillie Gifford.”
She added that she would rather be discussing her book, It’s Not That Radical: Climate Action To Transform Our World, with her fellow authors at the event rather than having to stage the protest. – BERNAMA-dpa
