Ferret Underground: Wrapped up in books

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The impact of The Ferret's revelation that a major Edinburgh book festival sponsor had invested in fossil fuel-profiting firms has continued this week.

Now more than 100 authors have signed a statement calling for the festival to drop all fossil fuel ties, and for Baillie Gifford to divest the £5bn that it invested in the industry.

This followed climate activist Greta Thunberg pulling out of her appearance at the event, after our reporting.

This is the sort of impact a small journalism organisation's work can have when we are backed by our members to hold the powerful to account. That's why our slogan is 'Good Journalism Changes Things'.

The fossil fuel multinational, Ineos, has been accused of falsifying a record and flaring gas from a chemical plant at Grangemouth in breach of multiple pollution rules, The Ferret can reveal.

In July the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) served the company with a final warning letter alleging that a “deliberate deviation of procedures” had caused gas to be burnt off in a major incident in December 2022.

According to Sepa, the incident occurred because a valve was “falsely” recorded as shut when it had been left open for over two months. The flaring was “preventable” and “unacceptable”, Sepa said.