“Every week brings a new climate horror story,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, and called for punishment.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has accused the oil and gas industry of seeking to increase production despite “knowing full well” that their business model is incompatible with human survival. Hesaid thisduring a special address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
His statement appeared shortly after research showed how Exxon Mobil, one of the world's largest oil companies, accurately predicted global warming back in the 1970s. At the same time, the company continued to publicly contradict its own research for decades.
“Some in Big Oil (the name used to describe several of the world's largest oil and gas companies – ed.) spread a big lie. And, as in the tobacco industry, those responsible must be held accountable,” Guterres said.
In a study publishedlast week in the journal Science, said that Exxon's private predictions of global warming were often more accurate than studies by the world's leading NASA scientists.
However, Exxon denies the allegations .
Read also: This year the Earth approached a gloomy record and turned into an “Atlas of human suffering” – scientists : justify;”>Research has previously found that Exxon has been aware of the dangers of global warming since the late 1970s, while other oil industry organizations have known about the risks of burning fossil fuels since at least the 1950s.
< p style="text-align: justify;">The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas is the main cause of the climate emergency.
“Every week brings a new climate horror story,” Guterres said, warning that commitments to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels were “eroding to dust”.
It is this temperature threshold that is the desired goal set in the landmark Paris Agreement of 2015.
Guterres said that without further action, humanity will be on way to increase the global temperature by 2.8 degrees Celsius.
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“The consequences will be devastating. Some parts of our planet will become uninhabitable. And for many it is a death sentence,” he said.
