Whether or not policymakers can overcome political impasse to encourage real change, people around the world have united to make their opinions heard, led by world renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

At the UN’s COP24 climate change summit in Katowice, Poland delegates of almost 200 nations are meeting to negotiate how to turn the pledges made in the 2015 Paris agreement into reality.

As part of the UN’s people’s seat initiative, messages were gathered from around the globe to inform Sir Attenborough’s address. A number of powerful video messages were played as part of a montage prior to the speech.

“The world’s people have spoken,” Attenborough told the delegates in Poland.

“Time is running out. They want you, the decision-makers, to act now. Leaders of the world, you must lead. The continuation of civilisations and the natural world upon which we depend is in your hands.”

While urging global leaders to take firm action, Attenborough also highlighted the importance of individuals remaining positive and taking what action they can to make a difference. He recommended using the ActNow chatbot recently implemented by the UN, which provides a number of everyday actions people can take to reduce their personal contributions to climate change.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres also spoke up on some of the positive opportunities arising out of our contemporary crisis, especially with regard to moving towards a green economy.

“Climate action offers a compelling path to transform our world for the better,” Guterres said.

“Governments and investors need to bet on the green economy, not the grey.”

 

Positive Action

• COP24 will continue until the end of this week. Remaining topics include Finance and Climate, Achieving Clean Air, Clean Fuels, Heating and Humans. Find out more at https://cop24.gov.pl.
• If you want to make some simple changes in your everday life, check out the UN’s ActNow chatbot for recommendations.
• Take a look at Planet Ark’s recommendations on living a low carbon lifestyle.

 

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Positive Environment News has been compiled using publicly available information. Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.