On the occasion of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, launched a violent attack on fossil fuel companies: “They have been peddling the great lie about global warming for years, despite being fully aware that their product would burn the planet. […] they have ignored science, and for this they must be pursued”.
He makes his alarm even more hideous on the “perfect storm” that risks precipitating the world to the point of no return: “We are joking with the climate disaster and the consequences will be devastating in different parts of the planet, which will become uninhabitable. For many it will be a death sentence. Our business model must be redesigned”.
In front of an audience of businessmen and women, many with interests in oil companies, the UN Secretary General also referred to the report that showed that EXXON, one of the world’s largest oil companies, knew all the dangers of CO2 emissions as early as the seventies and despite this not only did it remain silent but also publicly claimed the opposite.
Guterres reiterated that, in order to achieve the climate objectives set by the international community, all the commitment of the private sector is needed. The promises made by some companies regarding the achievement of climate neutrality, however, “are equivalent to greenwashing“.
Clear and transparent action plans and uniform assessment criteria are needed, according to Guterres, who stressed the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions before relying on the purchase of carbon credits. The UN Secretary General spoke to everyone, explaining that the climate crisis must become the first and most important dossier on the desks of CEOs and politicians around the world.
Because, as he has been saying for a long time, “there is no sense of climate emergency” and we have only one Planet that must be saved at all costs.
