Sir Billy Connolly reveals climate change fears: 'I hope we haven’t blown it'

Sir Billy Connolly has revealed he fears humanity might have left it too late to fight back against climate change, but says he "hopes we haven't blown it".

The 79-year-old comedy icon said in his new UKTV series Billy Connolly Does… — reported via Metro — that he has had an affection for nature since his childhood.

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"[Travelling has] given me the belief that the world is bigger than me. You have to treat it with deep respect," he said.

"It will bite you in the a*** and it’s proceeding to do that right now. The forests are all on fire and this virus careering through the planet. I hope we haven’t blown it."

Connolly said that "the world is an amazing place" and that human beings are "supposed to be wowed by it".

He said his connection with the natural world went all the way back to childhood camping trips in Aberfoyle on the banks of the River Forth.

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He added: "I believe that the animals are our brothers and sisters and I don’t believe all this nonsense about soul separating us. I don’t believe in that kind of thinking.

"We share the world with everybody and everybody has a function and when the function goes, we’re in trouble."

Connolly officially announced his retirement from live stand-up comedy in 2018 following the death of his long-term manager Steve Brown.

In 2013, he revealed he was experiencing the early stages of Parkinson's disease and has since said his left hand is now of no use to him.

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In 2020, he said of his illness: “It’s got me and it will get me and it will end me, but that’s OK with me.”

Connolly released his first autobiography, entitled Windswept and Interesting, last year.

Watch: Sir Billy Connolly says he has learned to hypnotise his hands