Sarah Louise Robertson talks environment and saving the planet with the BBC Broadcasting legend for WHEREVER.

Sir David is a British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer as well as the man behind the A Life On Our Planet documentaries. At 98, he is a national institution, and is still clearly on a mission to save our planet.

His personal film, A Life On Our Planet, starts with Sir David at the beginning of his career into the study of the natural world and the state of the planet over the last 70 years. He wanted the film to be shown in schools as it carries a stark warning to the younger generation as well as the old that the planet is heading for disaster unless we act now.

On showing his film, Sir David seems emotional in parts as he looks on the destruction man and climate change has wrought on the Earth and its wildlife.

He confirms “the environmental crisis is coming to a very critical point where the politicians who are inevitably the people who are going to take critical decisions need convincing by the electorate that the electorate are serious.”

He adds, “we hope they are going to take responsible decisions if necessary that will cost us but we are not to be bought off, we demand that they take it, what we see as being the most critical decisions we have to make as voters for some decades.”

After the likes of populist politicians Trump and Boris Johnson – neither particularly known for their pro environment views – Sir David thinks the electorate is ready for change.

“The environmental crisis is coming to a very critical point”

“There’s no question whatsoever that to solve the world’s problems is going to require international effort. And it doesn’t matter how concerned you are if you are sitting in Richmond, which is where I live, that is not going to actually move things in Africa or anywhere else, except through political action, which has to happen if we are to avoid very serious consequences.”

Sir David says changes in the BBC’s style of presenting have also seen him change his ways over the years in how he approaches the environment.

“The only broadcasting organisation in this country of any kind was the BBC. And at that time if you are the only broadcaster on any television service you have responsibilities for public service which are perfectly clear, one of which is that you actually present balanced arguments. So that was the world in which I started. That world has now gone. The BBC is still there but it has to interpret its public service obligations in a different way and quite right too, and the BBC doesn’t necessarily feel that you know you have to present every side of every argument and that is because there are lots and lots of other voices in which all sides of arguments can be represented.

“But, having said that, I remember very well the BBC asked me to do a programme at the end of the last Millennium about the world coming up, and I said during that time about saving the planet – 20 years ago everything this film has got in it – and I said ‘you know it’s going to require major political and economic change’ – and clearly nobody took a blind bit of notice!”

His job has seen him clock up millions of airmiles and Sir David said he worries about his own carbon footprint, but while he makes sure he lives modestly, he does not expect people to cut out all aspects of modern day living.

“We all have a carbon footprint, we are sitting here breathing out carbon dioxide like there’s no tomorrow, but it doesn’t mean to say that you have to wear a hairshirt or that you don’t ever go crossing the Atlantic. It’s perfectly proper to travel in Europe in order to live a civilised life and producing carbon dioxide is inevitable, so we couldn’t suddenly say we’ve got to stop living. I think all you can do is make sure as far as you can that you live to certain standards and take elementary attitudes towards electricity.”

“I get letters which drive me absolutely spare talking about how important it is to care for the environment which are sent to me in a completely pointless plastic envelope.”

“Yesterday I thought I’d put on a jersey and not turn on the electric bar to write what I had been writing and of course you do those things, but let’s not say forgive me for breathing.”

He does though practises what he preaches having been vegetarian for a number of years and ranting about plastic – his pet hate.

“I get letters which drive me absolutely spare talking about how important it is to care for the environment, which are sent to me in a completely pointless plastic envelope. I mean ludicrous, it’s of no consequence whatsoever, it costs more in transportation and it pollutes the world for no reason whatsoever.”

“I think I live in a reasonably modest fashion. I don’t believe in excess luxury. I must be careful I am sounding like St Francis but one should lead a reasonably modest life. I certainly don’t eat meat. I hope I am not extravagant, I worry about transport and how much energy is involved in going to places. Is it worth it, for example, when we need to go to Kenya to make a film to do a sequence I hope that will be quite an important sequence? In the wildlife film making business this is a constant dilemma of does the end justify the means.”