The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, lashed out this Wednesday at the davos forum against the oil companies for “selling their big lie” about the global warming, whose consequences 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 He drew a parallel between the actions of the oil companies and those of the tobacco companies, which have been affected by massive lawsuits about the 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 science magazine, ExxonMobil he dismissed the conclusions of his own scientists about the role of fossil fuels in climate change.
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“But, like the tobacco industry, they paid little attention to their own science” Guterres said, referring to lawsuits that showed tobacco companies had hidden 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 US states reached a landmark settlement against tobacco companies for US$246 billion, intended 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 the company’s scientists had modeled and predicted global warming. “with astonishing accuracy” but that the company “he spent the next two decades denying that same climate science”.
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 that ‘Exxon knew it’ are wrong in their conclusions.”
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“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 “it’s fading 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 claimed.
His speech was welcomed by the Fossil Fuel Nonproliferation Treaty Initiativepromoted by Pacific island countries such as Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
“We have to stop the lies from big oil, gas and coal companies and start acting collectively to eliminate them,” declared the executive director of the initiative, Alex Rafalowicz, denounced the actions of the governments “devastatingly slow and weighed down by the influence of fossil fuel lobbies.”
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The UN chief also called on business leaders in the room to come up with “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 in instead of reducing them.
“Here in Davos, I call on all business leaders to act on these guidelines”, said.
Guterres criticized the “dubious” or “obscure” climate commitments of many companies on their goal of zero carbon emissions, which “misleads consumers, investors and regulators with false information”, reiterated, alluding to the green image laundering campaigns (‘greenwashing’) of companies.
Source: AFP.
Source: Gestion
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