United States Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday urged United Nations leaders attending the climate summit on Tuesday to act now, saying "nature is screaming at us."

Kerry reiterated that climate concerns are as grave as other global threats like nuclear weapons and terrorism and that the U.S. and other countries fail to meet the challenges presented.

Like Us on Facebook

"You don't have to take my word, or Al Gore's word on it. You can wake up pretty much every day and listen to Mother Nature, who is screaming at us about [climate change]," Kerry said in his statement.

Former U.S. vice president Al Gore is a top climate change proponent, who created the Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

He was among the 400,000 people in New York City on Sunday at the annual People's Climate March or what was believed to be the biggest climate march in history.

He hopes the climate summit will provide leadership in prioritizing the issue because it is urgent.

Kerry also announced ahead of the UN climate summit that the Obama administration will pledge US$15 million to a World Bank project aimed at curbing worldwide methane emissions.

He also said he directed 275 U.S. foreign missions to highlight the issue on their mission.

Apart from this, he said the U.S. will pressure the world's top 17 carbon emitters attending the Major Economies Forum to reduce carbon emissions.

To ensure compliance to their reduced emission goals, they will meet again next year, Kerry said.

The U.S. had already committed to reduce 2005 carbon levels by 17 percent by 2020.

In contrast, Kerry acknowledged that a U.S. Congress deadlock is getting in the way of amplifying efforts to support renewable energy projects that could reduce carbon emissions.

Meanwhile, Kerry shared China's reaction on climate change in their recent meetings. He said he was affirmed that Beijing leaders understood the risks and opportunities presented by climate change.

TagsClimate change policy, Environment, al gore, An Inconvenient Truth