French 'Spiderman' climbs Sydney skyscraper in climate change bid

French climber Alain Robert dubbed "Spiderman" was arrested on the roof of a 57-storey Sydney skyscraper on Monday after climbing the building to raise awareness for climate change.

Alain Robert scaled the 150-metre Lumiere apartment building in central Sydney, without ropes or a harness in about 25 minutes.

He then unravelled a banner advertising a website which warns the world it has limited time before greenhouse gases reach irreversibly dangerous levels.

Robert was arrested on the skyscraper's roof and charged with "risking the safety of another by climbing a building and entering enclosed land" by the New South Wales police.

“It was a great success,” Robert’s publicist Max Markson said. “I’m upset that he was arrested but I hope he’ll be released soon so we can have a glass of Champagne”.

Robert has overcome vertigo following two 15-metre falls in the 1980s to climb some of the world's tallest structures, as well as iconic monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building.