Sir David Attenborough is to address the UN’s climate change summit in Poland in December, taking up a newly established “people’s seat” at the negotiations.

The people’s seat initiative, which launched on Wednesday, will give citizens around the world the opportunity to send their messages to leaders via social media, using the hashtag #TakeYourSeat. These views and information from opinion polling will then form the basis of Attenborough’s speech to leaders.

“We all know climate change is a global problem – and for that it requires a global solution,” said Attenborough. “This is an opportunity for people from across the globe, regardless of their nationality or circumstances, to be part of the most important discussion of this century; the unprecedented action needed to reach the Paris agreement targets.”

“I encourage everyone to take their seats and to add their voice so that the ‘people’s address’ truly represents a mix of voices from across the world,” he said.

The world’s governments are meeting in Poland to negotiate how to implement the Paris agreement on climate change, secured in 2015. They will also discuss how to increase global action to meet its goals to curb global warming.

The summit follows a warning in October from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that urgent and dramatic action across the whole of the economy and society is needed to cut emissions and prevent dangerous climate change.

The people’s address will also trigger the launch of the Facebook Messenger “ActNow” bot on the United Nations’ central Facebook account. This is intended to make it easier for people to understand the actions they can take personally in the fight against climate change by making recommendations, such as taking public transport and eating less meat. The number of actions will be tracked to highlight the impact collective action could make.

“The challenge to humanity that climate change represents is of such epic proportions that only through collective global action will we have a chance to combat it successfully,” said Michael Moller, director-general of the United Nations Office at Geneva, who first suggested the new initiatives.

“Every single human being on our severely stressed planet has to take responsibility,” he said. “If we don’t, we all fail with catastrophic consequences. The people’s seat initiative provides the impulse for seriously ramping up global solidarity, especially among the young who, at the end of the day, are the ones who will have to deal with the mess we have left them with.”