Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
Baillie Gifford holds stakes in several pioneers of the energy transition, including Tesla, the battery manufacturer Northvolt and carbon removal company Climeworks. It also holds about 2 per cent of clients’ money in companies with links to fossil fuels and positions in tech companies like Amazon, which have ties to the Israeli defence and military. Oil, gas and Gaza have disrupted the Scottish asset manager’s position as one of Britain’s biggest cultural sponsors: the Hay Festival has suspended its sponsorship and now the Edinburgh International Book Festival has ended its relationship. That still leaves the firm as sponsor of a clutch of other festivals and a major non-fiction prize. Campaigners point to Norges, Norway’s giant sovereign wealth fund, as an example of an investor doing the right thing – but that’s not quite right. Norges pushes for better management of climate risk but is still a top ten shareholder in Exxon. The Wigtown book festival – still backed by Baillie Gifford – described the outcome as a “disaster” for the whole UK cultural sector.