David Attenborough at COP24 in Katowice: the doom of our civilization is on the horizon

Speaking at the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland, David Attenborough, a biologist and one of nature’s most recognizable popularizers, said that the doom of our civilization is already on the horizon. He added that the fate of the world is in the hands of leaders.

– The collapse of civilization and the natural world is on the horizon – said Sir David Attenborough at the inauguration of the COP24 climate change summit, whichory takes place in Katowice.

– We are currently facing a catastrophe on a global scale, whichora is caused by man. We are facing the biggest threat in thousands of years: climate change. If no action is taken, we face the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural environment – emphasized the biologist.

As part of an earlier initiative, the ecologicalow, people were asked to speak out on climate change using the Internet (#TakeYourSeat). COP24 played recordings of messages from citizens around the world describing their experiences and concerns about climate change and demanding that global leadersodcow take action.

– People around the world mowili that time escapes. They want you, the decision makers, to act now – fromnioAttenborough’s words to the reconstructed recordings. – Przywodcies of the world, you must lead us. The continued existence of civilization and the natural world, from which theore we all depend on, is in your hands – zwroIt is also a part of pediatric surgeryow of more than 200 countriesoin the world present in Katowice.

– Climate change is moving faster than changes in ourselves. We need to catch up before it’s too poźno. For many people, the regionoin, and even the countryow is already a matter of life or death – said during COP24 Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the UN.

Guterres added that the summit is the most important such meeting since the 2015 Paris summit, and that it must deliver binding commitments. – Wspolnie we bear the responsibility for avoiding global climate chaos,” he said. – Climate action is an irresistible pathway to transform our world for the better. Governments and investors must bet on a green economy, not a gray economy, he added.

Operating at the Organization of Nationaloin the United Intergovernmental Teamoł ds. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a special report in early October on the impact of global warming. In it, scientists stressed the urgent need for changes in the way societies function to curb the global rise in temperatures. Even po³ degree more is important and can protect us from dangerous consequences. According to specialistsow with the UN, climate action must be increased by a factor of five to limit warming to 1.5 st. Celsius, about whichohe Paris Agreement.

In December 2015 in Paris, 195 countryoin the world agreed to adopt and implement an agreement on limiting climate change. This is the first such agreement ever adopted by such a large group of. To this by the biggest polluters on the planet. Ogolne provision mowi about reducing gas emissionsoin greenhouse gases and to keep the increase in global temperature (because it is impossible to stop) at a much lower level than 2 deg. Celsius, and preferably a maximum of 1.5 st. Celsius in porown to the days before the industrial revolution in the 18th century.

The agreement also established a fund, whichory are to feed the developed countries. The total amount is expected to be 100 billionow dollarow and is to be handed over to developing countries. The aid is intended to support investments that reduce emissions of gasoin greenhouse. This amount is expected to increase by 2025. According to the summit, signatories are to report every five years after the agreement enters into force on their efforts to reduce gas emissionsointo a greenhouse.

As experts from the IPCC admitted, limiting the increase in warming by 1.5 st. C. means less intense heat wavesow, less frequent droughts, as well as floods, but also slower and on a much smaller scale extinction of speciesoin the animal. Change will certainly be difficult, but is still possible. For more on this topic, see: The effects of global warming will be much more severe. UN report: urgent changes needed.

Prof. Zbigniew Kundzewicz, a climatologist from the Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Environment of the Polish Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with PAP that the success of the Katowice summit would be the concretization of the Paris Agreement. – Lack of concreteness means lack of successow. And I fear that this will be the result,” concluded the scientist. As assessed by, "The option that the world will agree on how to implement the agreement is not very realistic". According to him, the second option is more likely – that while the world will try to make progress, the Paris Agreement will remain in the realm of symbols. – I fear that it will be difficult to find agreement – especially since someohe big players did not come to Katowice, he added.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear at COP24. German Chancellor Angela Merkal and French President Emmanuel Macron also did not arrive. The absence of these osob even before the start of the summit was considered its first failure.

As explained by Prof. Kundzewicz, the amount of warming is expressed through porown comparing the Earth’s current average temperatures – with average temperatures over timeoin the pre-industrial revolution (18th w. – XIX w.). It was during the industrial revolution that people began using fossil fuels on a large scale, and atmospheric emissions of gas also increasedoin greenhouse – causing the greenhouse effect and increasing average temperatures. Today, the Earth’s average temperature is already 1 degree C higher than in pre-industrial times.

The most important greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor. – We can reduce carbon dioxide and methane emissions. And it’s more difficult with water vapor – Kundzewicz said. The professor explained that if there is gas in the atmosphereoin greenhouse gases too much, the Earth is warming faster because the heat, whichore enters our atmosphere from the Sun, it does not escape into space. It’s like covering the Earth with a layer of glass roof, as in a greenhouse.

Polish President Andrzej Duda, said at the opening ceremony that the use of the "efficient coal technology is not incompatible with taking climate action”. He added that coal is a strategic resource for Poland and that there is no strategy today to abandon coal in Poland. He also said that energy sovereignty should be the foundation of any action.

– Poland’s economy is reducing its carbon footprint while growing rapidly – Duda said, and added that Poland has succeeded in reducing gas emissionsoIn greenhouse by 30 percent. relative to the base 1988. Commentators immediately pointed out that the data presented by the president is from 2012. According to the National Center for Balancing and Emission Management, as of 2015, gas emissionsoin greenhouse gases in Poland is growing.

Sourceosource: The Guardian, PAP, fot. CC BY-SA 2.0/ Foreign and Commonwealth Office/ Flickr