"Based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) figures, that's the equivalent of more than 11,700 cars driving for one year or 728 tanker trucks worth of gasoline". Last year President Donald Trump announced that he would withdraw the USA from the Paris climate accord.
"Leaders of the world you must lead", he added. And if you do that, I promise you: "I'll be back".
He told the gathering that the "collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizons" if no urgent action is taking against global warming.
The British broadcaster urged world leaders to respond to "our greatest threat in thousands of years". "The continuation of our civilisations and the natural world on which we depend is in your hands".
Speaking at the opening of the United Nations COP24 Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland, Attenborough implored the assembled delegates and decision-makers to listen to the voices of those they represent - while there's still time to act.
Poland has already come in for criticism after it announced three state-run coal companies were sponsoring the two-week negotiations.
Schwarzenegger said the idea that fossil fuel-dependent economies would suffer as they transition to renewables was a fallacy.
"Just last week, the UN's environment programme said the voluntary national contributions agreed in Paris would have to triple if the world was to cap global warming below 2C", AFP reported.
So the stakes are high in Katowice, Poland, as countries meet to finalize the operating manual for the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change.
Collected using the #TakeYourSeat hashtag, millions of people from around the world were invited to share their stories about climate change and the impact it has had on them, their families, their health, and their communities. This implementing framework shows how governments plan on reaching the ambitious goals the agreement sets out - namely, keeping the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2°C.
"We need concerted resource mobilisation and investment to successfully combat climate change, we must start today building the tomorrow we want".
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has issued an appeal to world leaders to do more to tackle climate change.
The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement pledged countries to shift the world economy away from fossil fuels and limit the rise in global temperatures to avert more extreme weather, rising sea levels, and the loss of plant and animal species.
The 2016 Paris climate talks (COP21) saw nearly 200 nations commit to a variety of national goals created to keep global temperatures "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels and try to limit to them to 1.5°C.
A string of United Nations reports have sounded the alarm: levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere are the highest in 3 million years and the last four years were the four hottest in history.
US officials have kept a low profile at the talks so far.
Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has long campaigned against climate change, is expected to draw crowds, while there are reports that other Hollywood celebrities will make an appearance as well.
"Almost one billion people will be counting on the LDC Group to deliver in Katowice, to ensure the protection of their lives and their livelihoods now and in the future."Regarding the just-ended G20 Summit that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, (30 Nov - 1 Dec), Mr. Endalew said: "Responsible for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions, the G20 countries must take the lead in the global response to climate change". It was the COP21 which lead to the famed Paris agreement in 2015, the legally binding agreement to climate change where countries are obliged to keep global warming well below 2 degrees celsius.
06 December 2018
05 December 2018
03 December 2018
06 December 2018
05 December 2018
05 December 2018
06 December 2018
05 December 2018
03 December 2018
07 December 2018
06 December 2018
05 December 2018