Sir David Attenborough retains ‘some hope’ world can tackle climate crisis

Veteran wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has said he still has “some hope for the future”, despite the enormity of the powers degrading the natural state of our planet.

Speaking about the “unparalleled” severity of the issues the Earth faces, such as the climate and biodiversity crises, he said his hope came from the fact that all nations will experience impacts, and modern technology means people can rapidly see this, and also the work that is being done to change and mitigate it.

Sir David made the comments as he collected the Chatham House Centenary Lifetime Award, just weeks ahead of the UN’s critical Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The honour was awarded by the Chatham House study institute which described him as "one of the most compelling voices on biodiversity and climate change".

Sir David told the audience there has been “an extraordinary change” recently in that the destruction which has been inflicted on the world is being met with discussion instead of argument.

He said: "In the past, up until really right now, international relationships have been dominated by argument, by people with one point of view disagreeing with people with another point of view.

“But now there is a difference. Now the major problems that face the nations of the world are the same for all nations. The world is being destroyed. We are doing it.

“There is no doubt about that, so that for the first time the nations of the world should not be arguing with one another.

“On the contrary, they should be standing shoulder to shoulder to identify what the problems are and find the solutions because it is in all the nations’ advantage that we should see these clearly and agree to take action in a unified way.”

He also said there has been a change in the way humanity communicates with itself which now enables people to be heard within minutes across the world and to “see the pictures of devastation or of hope”.

Sir David said: "For the first time people around the world will hear the arguments as to what we should, the analyses as to what the problems are and what the solutions are.

"Those two things bring me some hope."

Sir David’s comments come after he explained the importance of biodiversity and what we must do to protect it in an animated short feature from the Royal Society.

“The benefits provided by nature are indispensable for making human life both possible and worth living,” he said.

“We need all the riches of our living planet to help us live healthy, happy lives long into the future.”

Additional reporting by PA

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