Civilisation on Edge of Collapse: Attenborough Warns World Leaders

British broadcaster said that the world is facing a man-made disaster that poses the greatest threat to humanity.

Renowned British naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough at COP24, Poland.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Renowned British naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough on Monday, 3 December, said human civilisation may collapse unless the world takes action to curb climate change, news agency Associated Press reported.

Speaking at the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (informally known as COP24), the British broadcaster further said the world is facing a “man-made disaster” that poses the greatest threat to humanity in 'thousands of years',

“Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years... If we don’t take climate action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.”

Sir David Attenborough

Attenborough was addressing delegates at COP24 which is being held in Katowice, Poland from 2 to 14 December. COP that stands for Conference of Parties is an annual global conference which in 2015 led to the formation of the historic Paris Climate accord. COP24 is being held to finalise the guidlelines of the Paris accord that committed to keep global warming well below two degrees Celsius.

‘World Leaders Need to Take Global Warming Seriously’: UN Gen Sec

On Monday, COP24 was also addressed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In his speech, Guterres said that the world leaders need to take the threats of global warming 'seriously and should bold action to avert a catastrophic rise in temperatures.

“Our job here in Katowice is to finalise the Paris Agreement Work Programme - the rulebook for implementation. I remind all Parties that this is a deadline you set for yourselves.”

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General