United Nations Secretary General António Guterres scolded the oil and gas industry Wednesday for continuing to fuel the world's climate crisis in light of a scientific study that showed
"We learned last week that certain fossil fuel producers were fully aware in the 1970s that their core product was baking our planet," Guterres said Wednesday during the scathing speech before the
The pointed remarks echoed previous speeches in which Guterres warned about the escalating impact of fossil fuels, and were delivered to thousands of lawmakers, billionaire executives, tech industry leaders, and highly touted academicians who were at the conference to address multiple geopolitical crises, including climate change, inflation, the war in
His comments came days after a climate report in the journal Science revealed the fuel industry was aware of severe planetary consequences from oil, coal and gas use, but company executives kept a tight lid on the findings for half a century while steering negative public opinion on climate change and lobbying against environmental protections in
In his speech on the second day of the conference, Guterres accused the fossil fuel industry of "racing to expand production, knowing full well that their business model is inconsistent with human survival."
"Just like the tobacco industry, they rode rough-shod over their own science," he said. "Some in Big Oil peddled the big lie. And like the tobacco industry, those responsible must be held to account."
Guterres also told the summit that current efforts to mitigate the climate crisis were "going up in smoke."
The list of summit attendees did not include any representatives from
In a statement last week, the company attempted to discredit the scientific analysis which was culled from internal company memos that showed the industry, at least since the 1950s, was aware that fossil fuel usage would result in "dramatic environmental effects before the year 2050."
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Discussions at the summit have so far been dominated by environmental concerns, but delegates are also seeking solutions on inflation, food and energy costs, and debt across the global economy. In response to the ongoing crisis, WEF is seeking to scale up renewable energy, eliminate carbon emissions, reform world oil markets, transition to clean power generation, and improve energy efficiency around the globe.
"Our world is plagued by a perfect storm on a number of fronts. Start with the short-term, a global economic crisis," Guterres said at the outset of his speech. "The outlook, as we all know, is bleak. Many parts of the world face recession and the entire world faces a slowdown. We see deepening inequalities and a rapidly unfolding cost-of-living crisis -- affecting women and girls the most. Supply chain disruptions and an energy crunch. Soaring prices. Rising interest rates along with inflation. And debt levels pounding vulnerable countries. Add to all of that the lingering effects of the pandemic."
Guterres also blamed
"We are facing the gravest levels of geopolitical division and mistrust in generations," Guterres later posted on Twitter. "At
Talks at the
"This can mislead consumers, investors and regulators with false narratives," Guterres warned. "And it feeds a culture of climate misinformation and confusion, and leaves the door open to greenwashing."
Another troubling report published recently alleges dozens of banks and financial companies are still investing in fossil fuels despite environmental pledges made as part of an agreement known as the
The plan, which arose out of the 2021
Guterres called on corporate leaders to enforce climate guidelines and ensure "credible, accountable net-zero pledges" on curbing emissions, and urged the delegation to devise "credible and transparent transition plans on how to achieve net zero -- and to submit those plans before the end of this year."
"Now, the transition to net zero must be grounded in real emissions cuts -- and not relying essentially on carbon credits or shadow markets," he said.
Meanwhile, another highly anticipated climate summit, the
Last month, nearly 200 countries reached a landmark agreement at the
New research published earlier this month also predicts greater fallout from global warming, with nearly 50% of the Earth's natural ice expected to melt and disappear by the year 2100.
Under this scenario, average sea levels would rise by more than 3 inches over the next 75 years if warming levels are maintained at 1.5C; but could potentially reach almost 5 inches if warming continues at the current rate of 2.7C.
"And the biggest emitters -- namely the
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