Pandemic shows need for global response to climate change, says Attenborough

COVID-19 is a reminder that “we are all in it together” and the world needs a global response to the climate change crisis, David Attenborough said, as he launched a film about lessons learned during his seven decades as a television naturalist.

The film “David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet” sets out his “witness statement” on the destruction of the environment and ideas on how humans can still put it right.

“If there is hope that can come out of (the pandemic) then that may arise from the whole world having experienced a shared threat and found a sense that we are all in it together,” said the presenter, one of the best-loved faces on television since his “Zoo Quest” series started in 1954.

The new film, which includes clips from his long career, was delayed by the pandemic. It will now premiere in cinemas on Sept. 28 and stream on Netflix from Oct. 4.

“The time for pure national interests has passed. If we are to tackle climate change, enable sustainable development and restore biodiversity, then internationalism has to be our approach,” Attenborough said in a statement before the launch.

“We must bring about a greater equality between what nations take from the world and what they give back. The wealthier nations have taken a lot and the time has now come to give.”

The 94-year-old told Reuters in March, before the delayed launch, that solutions lay with the young.

“Young people have been ignored for a very long time on the grounds that they don’t understand how the world works. Well, the boot is on the other foot now,” said Attenborough, whose work, including the BBC’s “Blue Planet” series, has been broadcast around the world.

Asked if he would ever protest with the activists of Extinction Rebellion, he said he did not believe in breaking the law, “but I believe in everything else they do”.