Sir David Attenborough: Climate change could be 'catastrophic' but it's not too late

Sir David Attenborough has warned that mankind faces “catastrophic” consequences unless action is taken on global warming,

Talking at a press event for his new documentary series Our Planet which launches on Netflix Friday, the veteran broadcaster said it was our oceans that were most at risk from climate change.

“If the ocean temperatures rise to the temperatures that they are threatening to, that will be a huge catastrophe,” the 92-year-old broadcaster cautions. “The fact is that huge numbers of human beings depend upon seas for food, and we know that we can’t afford to make the mistakes that we have, and at the moment we are poisoning and boiling the seas.”

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Our Planet producer Keith Scholey says that although the new eight-part series shines a light on the global effects of climate change, it’s not polemical, and that he hopes it shows that it’s not too late for mankind to turn things around for the sake of the planet.

“I think it’s important in this show to show that it’s not too late,” Scholey shares.

“[In the show] we go to a reef that was devastated ten years ago but through conservation work now it looks like eden. Everything has recovered and the local fishermen who no longer fish in the affected area, catch twice as many fish as they used to do. I think it’s really important that people don’t think there is no hope – it’s not too late.

“It’s really not too late,” adds Attenborough. “The idea that we can make a dramatic difference is really there for the taking.”

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All eight hour-long episodes of Our Planet will become available to Netflix members worldwide on 5 April, 2019. The series is accompanied by Behind-the-Scenes content which will launch simultaneously.

Netflix is also bringing Our Planet to cinemas nationwide on Thursday, 4 April. Guests are invited to attend one of ten local cinemas across the country to watch a live stream of the Global Premiere from London’s Natural History Museum attended by Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales, The Duke Of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex, followed by an exclusive screening of the first episode ahead of series launch on Netflix.

You can check local listings and apply for tickets here.

With reporting by Laura Hannam