UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said humanity is on course to a global temperature rise of 2.8 degrees Celsius without further action.
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday condemned the fossil fuel giants for ignoring their own climate science and accused the oil and gas industry of expanding production even though it “fully knew” that its business model was linked to human survival is not compatible.
“Some in Big Oil have been peddling the big lie,” Guterres said during a special speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “And like the tobacco industry, those responsible must be held accountable.”
His comments come shortly after research showed how Exxon Mobil, one of the world’s largest oil companies, accurately predicted global warming as early as the 1970s, only to then spend decades publicly contradicting their own research.
The study, published last week in the journal Science, says Exxon’s private projections of global temperature rise were often more accurate than those of world-leading NASA scientists. Exxon has since denied the allegations.
Research reports have previously noted that Exxon has been aware of the dangers of global warming since the late 1970’s, while other oil industry bodies have been aware of the risks associated with burning fossil fuels since at least the 1950’s.
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 committing to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels “would go up in smoke.” That temperature threshold is the aspirational goal set out in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement.
It is seen as crucial as beyond this level so-called tipping points become more likely. These are thresholds where small changes can result in dramatic shifts in Earth’s entire life support system.
Guterres said that without further action, humanity is on track to a global temperature rise of 2.8 degrees Celsius.
“The consequences will be devastating. Several parts of our planet will be uninhabitable. And for many, this is a death sentence,” he said.
“But it’s no surprise,” Guterres said. “The science has been clear for decades. I’m not just talking about UN scientists. I’m even talking about fossil fuel scientists.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently launched what he described as a “massive public relations machine raking in billions to shield the fossil fuel industry from scrutiny.”
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Referring to the research published in Science last week, Guterres said, “Like the tobacco industry, they have treated their own science roughly.”
“Today, fossil fuel producers and their makers still race to expand production, knowing full well that this business model is incompatible with human survival,” he continued.
“Well, this madness belongs in sci-fi, but we know that ecosystem collapse is cold hard scientific fact.”
The world’s leading climate scientists warned last year that the fight to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius has entered the “now or never” realm. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reiterated its calls for significant reductions in fossil fuel use to curb global warming.