Bob Geldof: The world could end by 2030

The Boomtown Rats star gives doom-laden climate change prediction

Bob Geldof at the One Young World summit (AP)

Bob Geldof has claimed that the Earth as we know it could end by 2030 thanks to the ravages of climate change.

The campaigner and former Boomtown Rats singer said the human race could soon be extinct at the One Young World summit in Johannesburg.

"The world can decide in a fit of madness to kill itself," he said, according to the Telegraph. "Sometimes progress may not be possible."

"We're in a very fraught time," he continued, warning the 8,000 international delegates: "There will be a mass extinction event. That could happen on your watch. The signs are that it will happen and soon."

The conference – a networking and debate event for young people from 190 countries – featured speeches from high profile 'counsellors'. Former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan and business mogul Richard Branson also took to the stage, but none appeared to match Mr Geldof for urgency.

Geldof said he was looking to young people to bring about real change: "My generation has failed more than others. You cannot let your generation fail. The next war will not be a World War One or a World War Two, it will be the end.

"We may not get to 2030. We need to address the problem of climate change urgently. What are you going to do about it? Get serious. Some of the nations that arrived here so proudly will not be there to meet us."

He said the solution was to be, "more human. Less Irish. Less Cameroonian. Less Chinese. Less Russian. More human."

Departing the stage, he apologised for being "bloody miserable" and told delegates to "just get on with it".