President Trump's stand on climate change very scary': Norwegian author Maja Lunde

New Delhi: US President Donald Trump's "ignorance" on climate change is "very scary", renowned Norwegian author Maja Lunde has said, warning that world leaders need to work together to avoid an environmental catastrophe.

Noting that the threat of climate change is "really grave", she said the world leaders needed to put their act together to avoid an environmental catastrophe. "We have 11 years to limit a climate change catastrophe and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, warns the UN. Even half a degree more will worsen the risk of floods, extreme heat, drought and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. Yes, this (threat) is really grave," the author of Blue, the second novel in a planned climate quartet, told PTI.

Asked about the people, including Trump, who dismiss the climate change threat as a “hoax", Lunde said such a stance from the US president was "completely irresponsible". "Luckily less and less people ignore the facts. When it comes to Trump, I don't know what to answer, his ignorance is very scary and completely irresponsible," she said.

President Trump in June 2017 pulled the US out of the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, arguing that the deal agreed by more than 190 nations unfairly benefited countries like India and China and hit American economy and jobs.

He had accused scientists who say hurricanes are getting more frequent and intense because of climate change of having "a very big political agenda". "Green energy is the key to saving the world. We need to change our focus from coal and oil to the sun, the wind and the waves. And we need to think both on a small and big scale," Lunde said in response to the question on how to combat the pressing problem of climate change.

Lunde will speak at this year's Jaipur Literature Festival, which begins on Thursday. "I hope the mainstream media can keep setting the agenda, we really need the media we can trust these days," she said. Sharing her views on how to address the issue of fake news, Lunde said it was important to keep telling the truth and insist on the values of science, research and objective reporting and working even harder.