David Attenborough tells Davos: ‘The Garden of Eden is no
more’
Human activity has created a new era yet climate change can
be stopped, says naturalist
Graeme Wearden in Davos
Mon 21 Jan 2019 19.19 GMT Last modified on Mon 21 Jan 2019
21.32 GMT
Sir David Attenborough has warned that “the Garden of Eden
is no more”, as he urged political and business leaders from around the world
to make a renewed push to tackle climate change before the damage is
irreparable.
Speaking at the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in
Davos, Switzerland, the 92-year-old naturalist and broadcaster warned that
human activity has taken the world into a new era, threatening to undermine
civilisation.
“I am quite literally from another age,” Attenborough told
an audience of business leaders, politicians and other delegates. “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”.
That stability allowed businesses to grow, nations to
co-operate and people to share ideas, Attenborough explained, before warning
sombrely: “In the space of my lifetime, all that has changed.
“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.
Attenborough admitted that even he has been surprised by the
speed of the damage caused to the environment during his career making TV
programmes showing life on earth.
In response, Attenborough – recently voted Britain’s most
trustworthy celebrity – said humans must use their expert problem-solving
skills. “If people can truly understand what is at stake, I believe they will
give permission for business and governments to get on with the practical
solutions,” he told the WEF.
Get it right, he argued, and humans can create a world with
clean air and water, unlimited energy and sustainable fish stocks, but only if
decisive action is taken now.
“Over the next two years there will be United Nations
decisions on climate change, sustainable development and a new deal for nature.
Together these will form our species’ plan for a route through the Anthropocene.
“What we do now, and in the next few years, will profoundly
affect the next few thousand years,” he added.
Speaking to journalists after his speech, Attenborough
warned that economic models needed to change. “Growth is going to come to an
end, either suddenly or in a controlled way,” he explained, citing the old joke
that anyone who thinks you can have infinite growth in finite circumstances is
“either a madman or an economist”.
He is also hopeful that he can change hearts and minds
during his trip to Davos, pointing out that some delegates have more power than
a nation state. “The enormity of the problem has only just dawned on quite a
lot of people ... Unless we sort ourselves out in the next decade or so we are
dooming our children and our grandchildren to an appalling future.”
Before he spoke, Attenborough received the Crystal award
from the WEF for his work. Saudi Arabia’s first female film-maker, Haifaa
al-Mansour, and conductor Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony were also
honoured for their work.
Prince William is due to appear with Attenborough to discuss
environmental issues at the WEF on Tuesday.
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