Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger tells his climate forum: 'Picture your children and your grandchildren playing in clean lakes and rivers and breathing fresh air'

The Austrian World Summit, founded by the Terminator star and his Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative in 2017, began on Thursday in Vienna with the aim of bringing people, business and industry together to find ways to solve the climate crisis.

During his opening speech, the 76-year-old actor called for action from its members and asked them to do “whatever it takes” to solve the problems caused by greenhouse gasses.

He said: “Envision the world without pollution. Imagine it without any death from exhaust or oil or smoke or coal. Picture your children and your grandchildren playing in clean lakes and rivers and breathing fresh air.”

He added: “What would you do to make that vision a reality? I know my answer – whatever it takes. Whatever it takes.

“Stop the bleeding, save our children, save the planet, save our future. I know you have the brains, I know you have the heart. And I know you have the power – so let’s do it.”

The Terminator star has campaigned on environmental issues since his time as governor of California which saw him sign the Global Warming Solutions Act in 2006 to create the US’s first cap on greenhouse gas emissions, along with a series of other climate initiatives in the state.

Since then he has also taken steps to reduce his own personal carbon footprint, and adapted one of his Hummers to run on biofuels and another to run on hydrogen.

During the climate meeting, Klemens Hallmann, an Austrian entrepreneur and film director, presented a documentary called DreamScapes which stars Kate Winslet narrating as Mother Earth.

The documentary aims to show the beauty and importance of preserving the earth using footage from a host of video artists.

Hallmann said: “We are living in a state of climate emergency, many documentaries deal with this most pressing issue of our time and show the ongoing destruction of our planet.

“With DreamScapes we consciously wanted to choose a new approach, our goal was to show the beauty of our earth with all its diversity.

“We want to make viewers aware of what needs to be protected, DreamScapes aims to inspire people and show why it is worth taking care of our planet.”