Why publishers need to take action on climate change today
We can’t profit from addressing the world’s greatest crisis whilst perpetuating it.
AN OPEN LETTER TO UK PUBLISHERS AND LITERARY AGENTS
From over 100 British writers and illustrators
As last week’s IPCC report makes clear, humanity stands on the threshold of catastrophic, irreversible climate change. 9 out of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 2005. Human-induced warming reached approximately 1°C above pre-industrial levels in 2017, increasing at 0.2°C per decade.
The effects of this warming are around us every day, from the terrifying fires in the Mediterranean to those blazing across the West Coast of the US, the floods from Germany to China. These are not freak events, they are symptoms of a rapidly warming world.
We cannot reverse climate change, we can only limit it to 1.5°C. To get us on track, countries and companies around the world are setting more ambitious targets. The UK aims to reach net zero by 2050, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 68% by the end of the decade.
At the moment of writing this, more than 650 companies have set targets with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), in line with the 1.5°C trajectory. 110 companies are also participating in The Climate Pledge, aiming to reach the Paris Agreement goals 10 years early.
But as a group of writers and illustrators, passionate about communicating the urgency of the situation, the possibility of a more sustainable world and setting a good example to our readers, we are dismayed that so few UK publishers and literary agencies have signed up to these goals or made public their sustainability targets.
We call upon every publisher and literary agency operating in the UK to commit to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. We have a responsibility to our readers and our communities to publish sustainably and ethically at this moment of crisis. We cannot simultaneously profit from addressing our greatest crisis whilst perpetuating it.
Climate action failure is the #1 global risk to every one of us. Climate change is real, it is impacting us now, and we cannot delay action.
This is our call to action today:
Please commit to, develop and implement programmes that reduce your greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
The window for action is narrowing every day. The time to act is now.
Yours
Lou Abercrombie
Tim Allman
Kim Andrews
Zoe Armstrong
Yaba Badoe
Susanna Bailey
Adam Baron
Dr. Fiona Barker
Marie Basting
Penny Batchelor
Dr. Amy-Louise Beer
Julie Bertagna
Zillah Bethell
Rob Biddulph
Jasbinder Bilan
Sita Brahmachari
Matt Brown
Stephanie Burgis
Cerrie Burnell
Aisha Bushby
Jess Butterworth
Elen Caldecott
Laura Caputo-Wickham
Anne Charnock
Alistair Chisolm
Jo Clarke
Dom Conlon
Steve Cole
Ronali Collings
Barbara Copperthwaite
Andreina Cordani
Stephanie Cotela
Alex Cottter
Jo Cotterill
Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Cressida Cowell
Paul Ian Cross
Pias Dasgupta
A.M. Dassu
Nicola Davies
Chloe Daykin
Sarah J. Dodd
Martin Dorey
Berlie Doherty
Sally Doherty
Judith Eagle
Christopher Edge
Joseph Elliot
Abi Elphinstone
Catherine Emmett
Miranda Emmerson
Maz Evans
Natasha Farrant
Nizrana Farook
Rab Ferguson
Louise Finch
Philippa R. Francis
Jess French
Ele Fountain
Lindsay Galvin
Georgia Gant
Sally Gardner
Amy Gerrish
Debbie Gliori
Francesca Gibbons
Guinevere Glasfurd
Hannah Gold
Pippa Goodhart
Candy Gourlay
Linda Green
Jamie Greenwood
Peadar Ó Guilín
Joan Haig
Smriti Halls
Vashti Hardy
Clare Harlow
A.F. Harrold
James Harris
Melissa Harrison
Tasha Harrison
Natasha Hastings
Caspar Henderson
Lu Hersey
Kelly Hill
Natasha Holmes
Lucy Hope
A.M. Howell
Tom Huddleston
Florianne Humphrey
Catherine Hyde
Liz Hyder
Ellie Irving
Emmi Itaranta
Catherine Jacob
Anna James
Lauren James
Liz Jensen
Mitch Johnson
Philip Kavvadias
Zoe Kear
Mitch Kenny
Pádraig Kenny
Sophie Kirtley
Harriet Kline
Maria Kuzniar
Josh Lacey
Laura Lam
LD Lapinski
Kieran Larwood
Neal Layton
Emma Lee
M G Leonard
Damien Lewis
Gill Lewis
Huw Lewis-Jones
Marianne Levy
Susanah Lloyd
Kate Mallinder
Bren Macdibble
Michael Mann
Josh Martin
Steve May
James Mayhew
Anthony McGowan
Bill McGuire
Dara McAnulty
Hilary McKay
Anna McKerrow
James Miller
Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Jamie Mollart
Lydia Monks
Ross Montgomery
Miranda Moore
Beth Morrey
Jackie Morris
Stephen Moss
Harriet Muncaster
Emma Mylrea
Lee Newberry
Linda Newbery
Sally Nicholls
Marisa Noelle
Gregory Norminton
H S Norup
Sinéad O’Hart
Matt Oldfield
Sam Osborne
Loris Owen
Elisa Paganelli
Kate Pankhurst
Michael Pawlyn
Jenny Pearson
Nicola Penfold
Richard Pickard
Julie Pike
Sally Purdie
Emily Randall
Emma Read
Clare Rees
Emma Reynolds
Clare Rivers
Dashe Roberts
Katherine Rundell
Jamie Russell
Rebecca Rouillard
John Shelley
Melinda Salisbury
Fiona Sandiford
Kate Sawyer
Clare Saxby
Helen Scales
Paul Schofield
Sam Sedgman
Marcus Sedgwick
Ally Sherrick
Francesca Simon
Anthea Simmons
Darrren Simpson
Nicky Singer
Rashmi Sirdeshpande
Nicola Skinner
Carlie Sorosiak
Chitra Soundar
Mark Stay
Kristina Stephenson
Lauren St John
Louie Stowell
Alexandra Strick
Leisa Stuart-Sharpe
Chrissy Sturt
Tricia Sullivan
Karen Swann
William Sutcliffe
Teri Terry
Nicola Thackery
Mimi Thebo
Isabel Thomas
David Thorpe
Tim Tilley
Sarah Topley
Hana Tooke
Piers Torday
Laura Trinder
Kael Tudor
Dominique Valente
Christopher Vick
Tamara Walcough
Carolyn Ward
Beth Waters
Melissa Welliver
Clare Helen Welsh
Stuart White
Graeme Williams
Sophie Wills
Harry Woodgate
Damaris Young
Yuval Zommer
