The UN Secretary General, Anthony Guterresattacked this Wednesday in the Davos forum against the oil companies for “selling their big lie” about global warmingthe consequences of which they had known for decades.
Addressing a packed room of the business and political elite gathered at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Guterres drew a parallel between the actions of oil companies and those of tobacco companies, which have been hit by massive lawsuits over effects of cigarettes.
“Some fossil fuel producers were fully aware in the 1970s that their flagship product was going to burn up the planet.Guterres said.
According to a study published last week in the journal Science, ExxonMobil dismissed its own scientists’ conclusions about the role of fossil fuels in climate change.
“But, like the tobacco industry, they paid little attention to their own scienceGuterres said, referring to lawsuits that showed tobacco companies had concealed the dangers of their products.
“Some oil giants sold the big lie. Like the tobacco industry, those responsible must be held accountable,” he added.
In 1998, several states in the United States reached a historic agreement against the tobacco companies for 246,000 million dollars, destined to cover the costs of treating smokers affected by the harmful effects of cigarettes.
The ExxonMobil study published last week in the journal Science revealed that company scientists had modeled and predicted global warming “with astonishing accuracy” but the company “spent the next two decades denying that very climate science.” ExxonMobil is the subject of several lawsuits in the United States.
Asked about the Science report, an ExxonMobil spokesman said last week that the issue had been raised several times in recent years and that in each case the company’s response was that “those who say ‘Exxon knew’ are wrong. in their conclusions.
“Addiction” to fossil fuels
In his speech, Guterres urged the world to “end addiction to fossil fuels”while warning that the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius “is slipping away.”
“Currently, fossil fuel producers and those who support them continue to fight to increase production, knowing that their economic model is incompatible with the survival of humanity,” he said. “This madness sounds like science fiction, even though we know that the collapse of the ecosystem is pure scientific fact,” insisted the person in charge.
His speech was welcomed by the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, promoted by Pacific island countries such as Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
“We have to put an end to the lies of the big oil, gas and coal companies and start acting collectively to eliminate them,” said the executive director of the initiative, Alex Rafalowicz, denouncing the actions of governments “devastatingly slow and weighed down by the influence of fossil fuel lobbies.
The UN chief also called on business leaders in the room to present “credible and transparent” plans on how to achieve zero emissions before the end of the year.
UN experts released recommendations at a climate summit in Egypt in November that companies cannot claim net zero emissions if they invest in new fossil fuels, cause deforestation or offset emissions with carbon credits instead. to reduce them.
“Here in Davos, I call on all business leaders to act on these guidelines,” he said.
Guterres criticized the “dubious” or “obscure” climate commitments of many companies regarding their goal of zero carbon emissions, which “mislead consumers, investors and regulators with false information,” he reiterated, alluding to the campaigns to wash the green image (‘greenwashing’) of companies. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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