UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday called out ExxonMobil for withholding highly accurate predictions about the impact of climate change.
“Some in Big Oil peddled the big lie," he said. "The science has been clear for decades. I’m not talking only about UN scientists, I’m talking even about fossil fuel scientists."
Guterres referred to a recent study from Science showing that Exxon predicted fossil fuel use would have “dramatic environmental effects before the year 2050" as far back as the 1970s. The study also found that Exxon's own predictive models have proven remarkably accurate.
"Our results show that in private and academic circles since the late 1970s and early 1980s, ExxonMobil predicted global warming correctly and skillfully," read the study. "Using established statistical techniques, we find that 63 to 83 percent of the climate projections reported by ExxonMobil scientists were accurate in predicting subsequent global warming."
The data builds on a story that was first revealed by investigative journalists for Inside Climate News back in 2015, which showed that Exxon executives intentionally withheld from the public in-house studies showing that continued carbon emissions would cause global warming.
The report quickly spurred a backlash against the company, with #Exxonknew circulating widely on social media platforms. Exxon has so far disputed the findings.
"#ExxonKnew is an orchestrated campaign that seeks to delegitimize ExxonMobil by misrepresenting our position on climate change and related research to the public," the company previously wrote on its website.
The UN chief, for his part, isn't buying the company's argument.
"Just like the tobacco industry, they rode roughshod over their own science," Guterres said.
The critiques of Big Oil came amid an altogether gloomy speech. Guterres said the world is in a "sorry state" and that global challenges are “piling up like cars in a chain reaction crash.”
