Don't waste a single day: Attenborough warns leaders on climate

SIR David Attenborough today told world leaders not to “waste a day” in the battle against climate change.

- Rachel Burford

Speaking ahead of the COP26 summit, the 95-year-old said it would be “catastrophic” if developed nations did not accept their responsibility to stop global temperature rises.

The veteran broadcaster is planning to attend the United Nations summit in Glasgow, which starts next week, and said richer countries had a “moral duty” to act because they caused the crisis.

“Every day that goes by in which we don’t do something about it is a day wasted,” he told the BBC.

He added: “I think it will be really catastrophic if the developed nations of the world, the more powerful nations of the world, simply ignored these problems. Do we say that it is nothing to do with us and cross our arms? We caused it.

“Our kind of industrialisation is one of the major factors in producing this change in climate so we have a moral responsibility. Even if we didn’t cause it we would have a moral responsibility. Thousands of men, women and children have lost everything.” COP26 has been billed as the last best chance to keep global temperature rises to no more than 1.5C, with world leaders set to thrash out plans to convert nations to clean energy during the two weeks of talks.