UN chief slams oil firms for 'big lie' on global warming

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres skewered oil firms for having "peddled the big lie" about their role in global warming, telling the World Economic Forum that they should be held accountable.

Addressing a room full of the world's business and political elite, Guterres drew a parallel between the actions of oil companies and those of tobacco companies that have been hit by huge lawsuits over the adverse effects of cigarettes.

"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.

"Just like the tobacco industry, they rode roughshod over their own science," Guterres said, referring to lawsuits that determined cigarette companies had hidden the dangers of their products.

"Some in Big Oil peddled the big lie. And like the tobacco industry, those responsible must be held to account," he said.

In his speech, Guterres urged the world to "end the addiction to fossil fuels" and warned that the aspirational goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels was "going up in smoke".

"Fossil fuel producers and their enablers are still racing to expand production, knowing full well that this business model is inconsistent with human survival," he said.

"This insanity belongs in science-fiction, yet we know the ecosystem meltdown is a cold, hard scientific fact," Guterres added.