Sir David Attenborough has been honored at the WEF at Davos with the “Crystal Prize” for his documentary work. Accepting the award Monday he told the Forum that he is “literally from another era”.
“I was born during the Holocene – the 12,000 [year] period of climatic stability that allowed humans to settle, farm, and create civilisations.” That led to trade in ideas and goods, and made us the “globally connected species we are today”.
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“The Holocene has ended. The Garden of Eden is no more. We have changed the world so much that scientists say we are in a new geological age: the Anthropocene, the age of humans,” he declared.
In a stark warning to the world leaders and business chiefs flocking to the WEF this week, Attenborough warned that the only conditions that humans have known are changing fast.
“We need to move beyond guilt or blame, and get on with the practical tasks at hand.”
A survey conducted before the WEF found that environmental threats are now the biggest danger to the global economy, and concern is mounting that co-operation between countries on the issue is breaking down.
On Tuesday he was interviewed at length by Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge about his new Netflix series and his work of over 60 years. In the 1950s, he would go on expedition with a small crew and a clockwork camera, the new series “Our World” involved over 200 camera operators. It was made in association with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (formerly the World Wildlife Fund until some American wrestlers muddied the initials) which was co-founded by William’s grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. This is the Guardian’s video of the interview.
Sir David’s insights on the use of global media, influencing his decision to publish the new series via Netflix, is erudite with a complete grasp of the urgency of action on climate change. In 2014 he was voted Britain’s most trustworthy public figure. Sir David is 20 years older than Donald Trump.