Activists, artists, celebrities and politicians including Prince William and Pope Francis on Saturday joined a global TED event with a call to save the earth. The event, which was aimed at mobilising and unifying people to act up against the climate crisis.

“The shared goals of our generation are clear,” William said in a video message as the event, called Countdown, kicked off.

“Together we must protect and restore nature, clean our air, revive our oceans, build a waste-free world and fix our climate,” he added.

Also Read | Greta Thunberg urges US voters to elect Joe Biden in upcoming elections

“We are living during a historic moment marked by difficult challenges, as we all know,” Pope Francis said in his address which called for protecting Mother Earth.

The delegates spoke on the threat of the climate crisis, the need for action, and what can be the solution.

“The world is shaken by the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which highlights yet an even bigger challenge – the socio-environmental crisis,” the Pope said.

During the five-hour-long event, he joined other speakers to say that climate crisis is real and is backed by science.

“The Earth must be worked and nursed, cultivated and protected,” the Pope said.

“We cannot continue to squeeze it like an orange.”

Solutions posed included ways of farming that welcome wildlife as well as crops; transportation systems powered by electricity; cities designed for people instead of cars; economies that thrive by keeping the planet healthy instead of destroying it, and voting for political leaders keen to end the climate crisis.

Also Read | UK’s Prince William to launch ‘most prestigious’ environmental prize

Countdown came as some world leaders have seized on the issue of climate change for political gain.

US President Donald Trump triggered outrage recently by suggesting global warming will reverse itself and dismissing climate change as a cause of the ferocious fires engulfing vast swaths of the US West.

Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, warned before the event that the topic has been “politicised.”

“But,” she added, “democracies have a way of changing the leaderships in those countries.”

An array of Countdown speakers urged people to use their voting power to elect decision-makers who prioritise stopping the climate crisis.

“I want to cast my vote in favor of the planet,” filmmaker Ava DuVernay said.

“If you are eligible to vote, anywhere in the world, elect people who care and urge others to do the same. Vote for the planet.”