The United Nations reveals the hypocrisy of oil companies in Davos

Antonio Guterres talks about the “lies” of big companies and calls on Greta Thunberg to stop searching for deposits

Two people as far apart as climate activist Greta Thunberg and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres clashed this week in criticizing the actions of The major oil companies, which are still struggling to increase their production and thus their emissions into the atmosphere, endangering the future of humanity. the Davos World Summit It was the scene of these messages.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, accused Wednesday big oil companies to spread the ‘big lie’ About its role in global warming, days after the publication of a study showing that the American giant Exxon Mobil She had accurate reports, 40 years ago, of the damage her activity was doing to the atmosphere, and yet she didn’t care.

“Some fossil fuel producers were fully aware in the 1970s that their main product was going to burn the planet. But, Like the tobacco industry, they paid little attention to their science. The UN leader said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that some oil giants have sold a big lie.

“Like the tobacco industry, those responsible must be held accountable,” he added, referring to the $246 billion US tobacco companies had to agree to pay in 1998 to 46 states over 25 years to cover treatment expenses. smokers.

The case of ExxonMobil, who knew what was going to happen

Back in the 1980s, ExxonMobil had high-accuracy predictions of global warming made by its scientists that only ended up coming true a few decades later, according to a study published last week in the prestigious journal. Sciences.

But, for years, the company has questioned the scientific knowledge on the subject.Notice the post.

Currently, my producer Fossil fuels And those who support them continue to struggle to increase production, knowing that their economic model is It interferes with the survival of humanity” Guterres said in Davos.

“This madness sounds like science fiction, even though we know ecosystem collapse is pure, hard science fact,” the person in charge insisted. He warned that we are on the brink of a “climate catastrophe”.

generally, The Secretary-General of the United Nations criticized the “doubtful & rdquo; or “dark & ​​rdquor; From many companies around their goal of zero carbon emissions.

He asserted that this “misleads consumers, investors and regulators with false information,” referring to companies’ green image-whitening campaigns.

Greta Thunberg: Corporations and Governments that “Nurture Destruction”

Meanwhile, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg accused attendees of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday of “fueling the destruction of planet Earth, in an event that took place outside the official programme.”

“We are now in Davos, where the people who fuel the destruction of the planet are mainly located” confirmed.

“They are people They are at the heart of the climate crisis, the people who are investing in fossil fuelsetc. And yet, in a way, they are the people we seem to trust to solve our problems.”

The 20-year-old Swede took part in a debate With three other young activists – Helena Gualinga from Ecuador, Vanessa Nakate from Uganda and Louisa Neubauer from Germany –in a panel organized by the series CNBC in which he also participated Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA)Fatih Birol.

“Without great public pressure from the outside, these people will go as far as possible.”

Thunberg stressed that change must come from the “bottom-up”. “Without massive public pressure from the outside, these people will go as far as they can, as long as they can get away with it.” “They will continue to invest in fossil fuels,” he said.

For his part, the head of the International Energy Agency said that the energy sector must change or “we will not have a chance to achieve our climate goals.”

The Four Eminent Climate Activists They urged the CEOs of fossil fuel energy companies from Davos not to open new extraction sites and to stop blocking the transition to clean energy.

“Immediately stop opening any new sites for extraction of oil, gas or coal, and stop blocking the clean energy transition that we desperately need,” they said in an open letter.

In the letter, which they shared on social networks and which the next day already had more than 850,000 signatures, They accuse the oil majors of knowing “for decades that fossil fuels cause catastrophic climate change”.

also fromMisleading the public about climate science and risks” As well as deceiving “politicians with misinformation that raises suspicions and causes delays.

For all these reasons, they request the aforementioned executives to put an end to these activities, considering it a “direct violation of the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, and they must also take care of the rights of indigenous peoples.”

They warn: “If you do not act immediately, keep in mind that citizens around the world will consider any legal action to hold you accountable. We will continue to protest in the streets in droves.”

……

Environmental contact: [email protected]