“People’s Seat” British naturalist Sir David Attenborough had some dire warnings about global warming at the United Nations Climate Change Conference on Monday.
Attenborough, 92, told the summit, which is meeting in Katowice, Poland this year, that he can envision the “collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world” if the world doesn’t take what he considers the required action to arrest climate change.
As Reuters reports, organizers made the documentary filmmaker the first occupant of the “People’s Seat,” from where Attenborough can disseminate the climate change message. (RELATED: ‘Trump Of The Tropics’ Won’t Be Hosting The Next UN Climate Summit)
People take part in a march called “Claim the Climate” demanding Belgian authorities to take action during the COP24, in Brussels, Belgium Dec. 2, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Walschaerts.
At the 2015 conference, delegates decided to set a limit for global warming and pledged to reduce the global use of fossil fuels to achieve that objective. Now they’re meeting to discuss how they plan to impose that agenda on the world. The U.S. criticized the UN plan in October for failing to adequately consider economic consequences in its efforts to reduce world temperature.
Attenborough told Reuters that he believes the entire world is on board with his environmental message except the United States, where he says President Donald Trump’s distrust of the UN’s motives have put his country “out on a limb” and out of sync with civilization. A White House report on climate change released in late November was not well-received by the president and was condemned by certain critics.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he talks to reporters while departing for travel to the G-20 summit in Argentina from the White House in Washington, U.S., Nov. 29, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
“I can only hope that, for whatever reason, whatever mechanism, that that will change in the United States,” he told Reuters. “It shouldn’t affect us and the whole of the rest of the world,” he said, suggesting that the rest of the planet was “absolutely clear” on the need to reduce fossil fuel consumption. (RELATED: Reporters Repeatedly Question President Trump On His Views On Climate Change)
Attenborough believes he can put his new UN role to good use because of his substantial broadcast experience. He encouraged everyone on social media to express their anxieties about climate change through the hashtag #TakeYourSeat, something he says will decrease the distance between average people and those dignitaries attending UN conferences.