Former US presidential candidate tells global elite that crisis is a ‘challenge to our moral imagination’

This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

Former US vice-president Al Gore has tried to mobilise the global elite to fight the climate crisis by comparing it to some of history’s greatest battles, from Agincourt to Dunkirk.

Gore told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the scale of the climate emergency was much worse than people recognise, and getting worse much faster than people recognise.

“The burden to act on the shoulders of the generation of the people alive today is a challenge to our moral imagination,” said Gore, during a session on protecting the Amazon and developing sustainable markets.

“This is Thermopylae. This is Agincourt. This is the Battle of the Bulge. This is Dunkirk. This is 9/11,” declared Gore. “We have to rise to this occasion.”

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Gore, who has campaigned on environmental issues since losing the 2000 presidential race, added that the world currently lacks the requisite political will to tackle the emergency.

“But remember, political will is itself a renewable resource,” he added, to applause from the audience.

Jane Goodall, the English primatologist and anthropologist, called for more education and funding to help young people tackle the crisis.

“My hope is that we can increase the level of education and understanding, not only but especially among our youth, and increase the level of funding so they can do more,” she said.

“The young people know what needs to be done, but very often there aren’t the resources for them to actually do it,” Goodall added.