“Climate irresponsibility” could undermine economic growth, but there’s still time to act.

That’s the message ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP21, in Paris, from Professor Nick Stern, speaking to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He argues that countries have to find ways of combining growth, with responsible policies that protect the environment, otherwise the chance to reverse climate change will be lost forever.

World leaders are expected to agree on a deal that will cap global warming at 2 degrees Celsius, in the long term.

Stern, the Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics, is author of “The Low-Carbon Road” in the IMF magazine, Finance & Development.

He spoke to Maureen Burke.

Duration: 5'04"