António Guterres Attacks the Fossil Fuel Industry at the TIME CO2 Earth Awards

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres launched his latest broadside against the world’s fossil fuel industry at the inaugural TIME CO2 Earth Awards in New York on Tuesday night. “History is coming for the planet-wreckers, for the fossil fuel barons and their enablers, profiting from destruction,” Guterres said onstage as he was honored for his contributions to tackling climate change.

It’s the U.N. chief’s latest attack on an industry that he has accused of purposely deceiving the public about the impact of their products on the global climate, and of continuing to stymie the world’s efforts to cut emissions and meet the goals of the Paris Climate Accords.

Guterres, the world’s most important intergovernmental figure, has strayed far from staid diplomatic language in addressing the global fossil fuel industry. At the TIME event, Guterres called out “fossil fuel barons” for pocketing big profits due to rising energy bills. He also saluted climate protesters, “people on shoe-string budgets, or with no resources at all, fighting the fossil fuel giants spending billions to greenwash, distract, and deceive.”

Read more: The Head of the United Nations Makes a Climate-Change Apology to His Future Great-Great-Granddaughter

Large oil companies in the U.S and Europe more than doubled their profits in 2022, raking in over $200 billion as energy prices soared in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In some cases, executives have cited the effects of the conflict as justification to push back climate goals. BP, for instance, announced in February that it would no longer aim to cut oil output by 40% by 2030. Instead, the oil giant would aim only to cut production by 25% from 2019 levels by the end of this decade. “We need lower carbon energy, but we also need secure energy, and we need affordable energy,” said BP Chief Bernard Looney, as reported by Reuters. “That’s what governments and society around the world are asking for.”

But Guterres said that the war in Ukraine isn’t a reason to increase fossil fuel consumption—but rather the opposite. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shown that energy security is a pipedream while economies remain hostage to fossil fuels,” the U.N. chief said on Tuesday.

Some politicians have taken a similar line to the oil executives in recent months. Last month, the Biden Administration, which has maintained that the U.S. must move away from fossil fuels, approved a massive new oil project on Alaska’s North Slope, enduring a furious backlash from environmentalists.

In his TIME address, Guterres cited progress in renewable energy deployments and net-zero commitments from governments, but he also castigated moves like those of the Biden Administration in Alaska. “New licenses for oil and gas are erasing hard-won gains,” he said. “We are exploring oil and gas that will never be consumed.”

The answer, he said, is for citizens to put more pressure on governments and businesses to make deep emissions cuts. “Now is the time to speak up, to speak louder, to speak ever—in your workplaces, in your companies, in your schools, in your faith groups, and in your communities,” Guterres said. “Tell your governments, your banks, and the businesses you buy from: no more excuses, no more half-measures. We need real climate action now.”

Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro.delagarza@time.com.