David Attenborough says Britain has ‘moral responsibility’ to ‘act now’ on climate

‘Our kind of industrialisation is one of the major factors in producing this change in climate,’ says broadcaster

Cop26 has been billed as the last best chance to keep global temperature rises to no more than 1.5C (PA)

Sir David Attenborough has issued a warning ahead of Cop26 in Glasgow that leaders must act now or “it’ll be too late” for the planet.

The broadcaster said richer western countries such as the UK have a “moral responsibility” to help refugees displaced by climate change.

"Every month that passes, it becomes more and more incontrovertible, the changes to the planet that we are responsible for that are having these devastating effects,” he told the BBC.

"If we don’t act now, it will be too late. We have to do it now. We caused it - our kind of industrialisation is one of the major factors in producing this change in climate. So we have a moral responsibility.

"Even if we didn’t cause it, we would have a moral responsibility to do something about thousands of men, women and children who’ve lost everything, everything. Can we just say goodbye and say this is no business of ours?"

Cop26 has been billed as the last best chance to keep global temperature rises to no more than 1.5C, with Sir David critical of those who deny the climate crisis.

Earlier this month, Sir David, who attend the summit, said the possibilities of Cop26 gave him "some hope".

He said: "For the first time people around the world will hear the arguments as to what we should do, the analyses as to what the problems are and what the solutions are. Those two things bring me some hope."

The prime minister will welcome world leaders to Glasgow for the summit which begins on Sunday. The heads of several major polluting nations, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, will not be attending the event, with Mr Johnson saying it was “touch and go” whether key goals would be met because of this.

Recent analysis suggests that even with the latest pledges and targets, the earth is heading for around 2.4C of warming in the long term.