Sir David Attenborough has declared climate change humanity's greatest threat in thousands of years, warning it could lead to the collapse of civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world. The naturalist was speaking at the opening ceremony of UN-sponsored climate talks in Katowice, Poland, known as COP24.
Attenborough, who is taking up the 'People's Seat' at the conference to act as a link between the public and policymakers, said: 'Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change. If we don't take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.'
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also addressed the conference, stating that climate change is already 'a matter of life and death' for many countries. He acknowledged the world is 'nowhere near where it needs to be' on the transition to a low-carbon economy but said the conference was an effort to 'right the ship'. He announced he would convene a climate summit next year.
The World Bank has pledged $200bn over five years to support countries taking action against climate change. The meeting is the first since the IPCC report on limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C, which stated that emissions must be slashed by 45% by 2030. However, a recent study shows CO2 emissions are rising again after stalling for four years.
Delegates are expected to focus on finalising the technical rules of the Paris Agreement, which becomes operational in 2020. The rulebook, which covers measuring, reporting and verifying emissions, as well as climate finance, is hundreds of pages long with thousands of brackets indicating areas of dispute. Four former UN climate talks presidents have issued a statement calling for urgent action, saying 'decisive action in the next two years will be crucial'.
