Sen. Jeff Flake Jeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeHow fast population growth made Arizona a swing state Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Republican former Michigan governor says he's voting for Biden MORE (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that Republicans should be at the forefront of combating climate change, following a United Nations report warning of catastrophic warming.

"I think so," Flake said when asked on ABC's "This Week" whether or not he believes Republicans are going the wrong direction on climate change.

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"I hope that we can move along with the rest of the world and address this," Flake said.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow pushed back against the U.N. report earlier on the show, arguing that the administration needed to look at what solutions were plausible.

Flake acknowledged that the reforms argued for in the U.N. report are well beyond anything any government was planning on attempting to address climate change.

Sen. Jeff Flake says Republicans need to take action on climate change: "There are things that we can do and should do and I think Republicans need to be at the forefront if we want to keep our place and keep our seats" https://t.co/xu9DfBgxNZ #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/7chrfc6sMT — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 14, 2018

"It's going to be challenging," Flake said. "Obviously, that report was pretty dire."

"But there are things that we can do and should do and I think Republicans need to be at the forefront if we want to keep our place and keep our seats," Flake said.

The U.N. report said that the world would need to cut emissions by 45 percent by 2030, or else the atmosphere could warm by 1.5 degrees Celsius.