David Attenborough has urged world leaders at the COP26 UN Climate Conference to ensure the young people of today “witness a wonderful recovery” in our planet’s environment.
The environmentalist and broadcaster delivered a speech to the conference in his capacity as COP26 People’s Advocate.
He called on leaders to be “motivated by hope rather than fear” as the world approaches its final chance to avoid climate catastrophe.
Speaking to an audience that included the US President Joe Biden and a host of other world leaders, Mr Attenborough said humanity is made up of “the greatest problem solvers to have ever existed on Earth” and insisted that we now have an opportunity to “turn this tragedy into a triumph.”
“Im my lifetime I have witnessed a terrible decline, in yours you could and should witness a wonderful recovery” #COP26 peoples advocate David Attenborough delivers a passionate speech at the opening of the World Leaders summit . pic.twitter.com/5VJ21z0bep
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) November 1, 2021
“It comes down to this,” he said. “The people alive now and the generation to come will look at this conference and consider one thing: Did that number (the concentration of carbon in our atmosphere) stop rising and start to drop as a result of commitments made here.”
“There is every reason to believe that the answer can be yes. If, working apart, we are powerful enough to destabilise our planet, surely working together, we are powerful enough to save it.
“In my lifetime, I have witnessed a terrible decline. In yours you could and should witness a wonderful recovery.
“That desperate hope ladies and gentlemen … is why the world is looking to you and why you are here.”
🌍 “A tale of the smartest species doomed by that all-too-human-characteristic of failing to see the bigger picture, in pursuit of short term goals” - David Attenborough
— Ben Finnegan (@_BenFinnegan) November 1, 2021
The 95-year-old noted that the climate crisis is about inequality as well as instability – with “those who have done the least to cause this problem, the hardest hit.”
“Ultimately, all of us will feel the impacts – some of which are now unavoidable,” he said.
“Is this how our story is due to end? A tale of the smartest species doomed by that all too human characteristic of failing to see the bigger picture in pursuit of short-term goals?
“Perhaps the fact that the people most affected by climate change are no longer some imagined future generation, but young people alive today – perhaps that will give us the impetus we need to rewrite our story. To turn this tragedy into a triumph.”
Recovery
He urged the gathered leaders to commit to measures capable of holding global warming to 1.5C.
“We are after all the greatest problem solvers to have ever existed on Earth,” he said.
“We now understand this problem. We know how to stop the number rising and put it in reverse.
“We must have carbon emissions stopped this decade. We must capture billions of tonnes of carbon from the air. We must fix our sights on keeping 1.5C within reach.”
'Not fear but hope'
Mr Attenborough said a new “industrial revolution powered by millions of sustainable innovations” is needed to give hope to the future.
“We will all share in the benefits,” he said. “Affordable clean energy, healthy air and enough food to sustain us all.”
“Nature is a key ally. Wherever we restore the wild it will recapture carbon and help us bring back balance to our planet and, as we work to build a better world, we must acknowledge no nation has completed is development because no advanced nation is yet sustainable.
“All have a journey still to complete so that all nations have a good standard of living and an honest footprint.
“We are going to have to learn together how to achieve this ensuring none are left behind. We must use this opportunity to create a more equal world and our motivation should not be fear but hope.”
Delighted to meet @POTUS at #COP26
President Biden reaffirmed to me the United States’ full support for the Good Friday Agreement. pic.twitter.com/GQJ13WWaA3
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) November 1, 2021
The conference will continue through the week with a number of world leaders including President Biden and the French President Emmanuel Macron due to speak.
The Taoiseach is also in attendance and is due to speak tomorrow.
