Ahead of this year’s United Nations climate change summit, the UN used a computer-generated dinosaur to spread awareness about extinction. The dinosaur, who was the UN’s unusual ‘witness’ burst into the UN’s famous General Assembly hall in New York to testify to the dangers of burning fossil fuels that stoke global warming.

In a video released on social media ahead of this year’s UN climate change summit, a computer-generated dinosaur told the world diplomats that “going extinct is a bad thing.”

The clip that is humour intended has Hollywood actor Jack Black’s voice-over. The clip carries a serious message that the UN Development Programme hopes to drive home.

“You’re headed for a climate disaster,” the dinosaur proclaims. “And yet every year, governments spend hundreds of billions of public funds on fossil fuel subsidies. Imagine if we had spent hundreds of billions per year subsidizing giant meteors.”

The UN agency, in an accompanying report, said that research shows that the world spends more than four times as much each year, about $423 billion, to subsidise fossil fuels for consumers than it does to help poor countries tackle global warming.

However, the figure doesn’t include the indirect costs of burning oil, coal and gas, such as the harm fossil fuel emissions do to the environment and human health.

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, has repeatedly called for an end to subsidies on fossil fuels. This is something that many governments are wary of because of fears higher prices could spark social unrest.

The head of the UN Development Programme, Achim Steiner, acknowledged that reforming the system of fossil fuel subsidies would not be easy and might look different in each country.

“But we also know that we must move away from these energy sources that are contributing to our planet’s decline,” he said. “Ending financial support for them in a way that is fair and equitable is a critical element of that transition.”

(With inputs from Associated Press)