ONE of the world's largest oil companies has broken its pledge to stop funding groups that promote scepticism about man-made climate change.
ExxonMobil gave almost £stg 1 million ($1.75m) last year toorganisations that campaigned against controls on greenhouse gas emissions.
Several made outspoken attacks on climate scientists at the University of East Anglia and argued that their leaked emails showed the dangers of global warming had been grossly exaggerated.
The scientists were exonerated this month by an independent inquiry, but groups funded by Exxon have continued to lambast them. The Media Research Centre, which received $US50,000 ($57,500) last year from Exxon, called the inquiry a "whitewash" and condemned "climate alarmists".
Some of Exxon's largest donations were to groups that lobbied against a global deal on emissions being reached at last December's climate summit in Copenhagen. The value of Exxon's oil and gas investments could fall sharply if governments adopt aggressive plans to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels.