UN chief denounces oil companies’ ‘big lies’ about global warming

UN Secretary General, Anthony Guterresattacked oil companies this Wednesday at the Davos forum for distributing “big lie” hiding its role in global warming.

Addressing the businessmen and politicians gathered at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Guterres He drew a parallel between the actions of oil companies and tobacco companies affected by massive lawsuits about the effects of cigarettes.

“Some fossil fuel producers in the 1970s were fully aware that their flagship product would burn the planet.Guterres said.

According to a study published last week in the journal Science, ExxonMobil dismissed its own scientists’ findings about the role of fossil fuels in climate change.

“But, like the tobacco industry, they paid little attention to their own science.”, he added, referring to the lawsuits that showed that the tobacco companies concealed the dangers of their products.

“Some oil giants have sold big lies. Like the tobacco industry, those responsible must be held accountable,” he added.

In 1998, several US states reached a historic $246 billion settlement against tobacco companies to cover the cost of treating smokers harmed by cigarettes.

An ExxonMobil study published last week in the journal Science found that the company’s scientists have modeled and predicted global warming “with amazing accuracy.” However, the company “spent the next two decades denying this 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 responded that “those who say ‘Exxon knew’ were wrong in their conclusions.

“Addicted” to fossil fuels

In his speech Guterres He urged the world to “end dependence on fossil fuels” and warned that the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era was “eluding”.

“Today, fossil fuel producers and their supporters continue to struggle to increase production.knowing that his economic model is incompatible with the survival of mankind,” he said.

His speech was welcomed by the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, promoted by Pacific island countries such as Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

“We must stop the lies of the big oil, gas and coal companies and begin collective action to eliminate them,” said Alex Rafalovich, executive director of the initiative, condemning government actions “terribly slow and weighed down by the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists.”

“We must leave the oil undergroundEcuadorian indigenous activist Helena Gualinga said this week in Davos.

The UN chief also urged business leaders to develop “credible and transparent” plans this year to achieve zero emissions.

UN experts published recommendations at the November climate summit in Egypt that companies cannot claim net zero emissions if they instead invest in fossil fuels, cause deforestation, or offset emissions with carbon credits to reduce them.

Guterres criticizes ‘dubious’ climate commitments of many companies about its zero-carbon goal, which “misleads consumers, investors and regulators with false information.”

On Tuesday, a study by nine non-governmental organizations denounced the very fact that large financial institutions that are members of alliances that say they want to achieve carbon neutrality continue to fund oil and gas development.

“From the date each bank joined the alliance through August 2022, 56 leading members of the Carbon Neutral Banks Alliance (NZBA) have provided $269 billion worth of loans, bonds or shares to 102 major fossil fuel advocates,” the study highlights. Reclaim Finance, 350.org, BankTrack, Rainforest Action Network, Recommon, Urgewald, Les Amis de la Terre, Sierra Club and Stand Earth. (According to AFP)