Baillie Gifford ends Edinburgh Book Festival sponsorship after fossil fuel row

Scottish asset manager Baillie Gifford has ended its sponsorship of the Edinburgh International Book Festival after a row over the company’s investments in fossil fuels and companies benefiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

The culmination of the year-long row came just days after the Edinburgh-based asset manager was dropped as a sponsor by Hay Festival.

The fight over Baillie Gifford’s sponsorship began in August last year when environmental activist Greta Thunberg pulled out of the festival due to “greenwashing” from the asset manager.

Then, the debate re-emerged in the run up to the festival this year, after over 700 authors and publishers, including Sally Rooney and Naomi Klein, signed a letter demanding the sponsor be dropped.

The group continued to cite Baillie Gifford’s investment in fossil fuels and also included complaints that it held money in companies profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

“Our team cannot be expected to deliver a safe and sustainable festival this August under the constant threat of disruption from activists. This was a pragmatic response to that reality,” said festival chairman Allan Little.

“Funding for the arts is now in a perilous position and we should all be clear that without the support of our partners and donors, the future of festivals like ours – and all of the benefits these events bring to authors and readers alike – is in jeopardy.”

Since the letter, Baillie Gifford has hit back, arguing that the group was focusing on companies that simply have commercial dealings within Israel, such as Amazon and Nvidia, and those with problematic operations in the occupied territories represented only £300m of investment.

“We have been engaging with those companies. This work has been going on since the conflict broke out and in all three cases progress has been made,” a spokesperson from Baillie Gifford said.

Meanwhile, it noted that only two per cent of its investment was in fossil fuel companies, compared to five per cent invested in companies dedicated to renewable energy.

David Greig, the artistic director of Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre, called the boycott “irresponsible, entitled and childish”, citing the lack of arts funding in the country.

The playwright also argued that the boycott’s terms were too broad, stating that “there is no organisation that I can think of in Scotland who would be clean enough for this open letter”.

Jenny Niven, the festival’s chief executive, said that the mutual decision to end the sponsorship with Baillie Gifford was a source of “great regret”.

“The pressure on our team has simply become intolerable. We have a major global festival starting in 10 weeks’ time and we need to focus all of our efforts and energy on delivering a safe and successful event for our audiences,” she said.

“Undermining the long-term future of charitable organisations such as book festivals is not the right way to bring about change.”