‘Big Oil peddled the big lie’: UN chief slams energy giants for ignoring their own climate science - CNBC

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres connected Wednesday condemned fossil substance giants for ignoring their ain clime science, accusing the lipid and state manufacture of seeking to grow accumulation contempt knowing "full well" that their concern exemplary is incompatible with quality survival.

"Some successful Big Oil peddled the large lie," Guterres said during a peculiar code astatine the World Economic Forum successful Davos, Switzerland. "And similar the baccy industry, those liable indispensable beryllium held to account."

His comments travel soon after probe showed however Exxon Mobil, 1 of the world's largest lipid companies, accurately forecast planetary heating arsenic agelong agone arsenic the 1970s lone to past walk decades publically contradicting their ain research.

The study, published past week successful the diary Science, said that Exxon's backstage projections of planetary somesthesia emergence were often much close than world-leading NASA scientists. Exxon has since denied the accusations.

Research papers person antecedently recovered that Exxon was alert of the dangers of planetary heating since the precocious 1970s, portion different lipid manufacture bodies knew of the risks associated with burning fossil fuels since astatine slightest the 1950s.

The burning of fossil fuels, specified arsenic coal, lipid and gas, is the main operator of the clime emergency.

"Every week brings a caller clime fearfulness story," Guterres said, informing that the committedness to bounds planetary somesthesia emergence to 1.5 degrees Celsius supra pre-industrial levels was "going up successful smoke." This somesthesia threshold is the aspirational people acceptable successful the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.

It is recognized arsenic important due to the fact that beyond this level, alleged tipping points go much likely. These are thresholds astatine which tiny changes tin pb to melodramatic shifts successful Earth's full beingness enactment system.

Guterres said that without further action, humanity was connected people for a planetary somesthesia summation of 2.8 degrees Celsius.

"The consequences volition beryllium devastating. Several parts of our satellite volition beryllium uninhabitable. And for many, this is simply a decease sentence," helium said.

"But it is not a surprise," Guterres said. "The subject has been wide for decades. I americium not talking lone astir U.N. scientists. I americium talking adjacent astir fossil substance scientists."

Referring to the probe published successful Science past week, Guterres said, "Just similar the baccy industry, they rode rough-shod implicit their ain science."

"Today, fossil substance producers and their enablers are inactive racing to grow production, knowing afloat good that this concern exemplary is inconsistent with quality survival," helium continued.

"Now, this insanity belongs successful science-fiction, yet we cognize the ecosystem meltdown is cold, hard technological fact."

The world's starring clime scientists warned past twelvemonth that the combat to support planetary somesthesia emergence nether 1.5 degrees Celsius had reached "now oregon never" territory. The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel connected Climate Change reaffirmed calls for a important simplification successful fossil substance usage to curb planetary heating.