Climate Activist David Attenborough
David Attenborough’s stake in climate change stems from a lifetime of witnessing environmental transformation firsthand. As a natural historian and documentarian, he has spent over seventy years observing ecosystems around the world. Through his travels around eighty countries and three hundred locations, he has seen changes in biodiversity, climate patterns, and habitat health.
Decades of sustained observation lead him to concentrate on three key aspects of anthropogenic climate change. First, he condemns human overconsumption, affirming that there can be no infinite growth in a finite environment. Second, he expresses concern about the increasing environmental degradation that is destroying protected natural areas, with particular focus on the UK. He argues that nature is not just beautiful but essential for slowing global warming. Protected nature can heal itself, and when it does, it helps both the planet and people. Finally, Attenborough sees the ongoing reliance on fossil fuels as a major problem. He criticizes the continued emission of greenhouse gases generated by coal, oil and natural gas, calling for an urgent transition to renewable energy.
Overconsumption
Across his major documentaries, including the Truth about Climate Change, A Life On Our Planet, The Blue Planet and A Perfect Planet, one consistent theme David Attenborough highlights is the global overconsumption of resources.
In this context, the term “overconsumption” is defined as the use of resources at a level that exceeds sustainable thresholds. Attenborough explains that this leads to harmful consequences such as pollution, deforestation, and, most importantly, rising global temperatures. Humanity currently uses Earth’s resources 1.6 times faster than they can be regenerated. This excessive use is reflected in emissions as well. A 2015 study titled “Environmental Impact Assessment of Household Consumption” found that household consumption alone is responsible for approximately 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
The impact of overconsumption also extends to water. Currently, around 70% of the world’s freshwater is used for agriculture, much of it to sustain the demands of consumer-driven food systems. If this trend continues, global water consumption is expected to exceed sustainable supply by as much as 40% by 2030. Overconsumption has also caused serious damage to the natural world. Between 2001 and 2019 South-East Asia lost 610,000 square kilometers of rainforest to urban development and timber production. Moreover, with the loss of over 90% of the world’s fisheries, our oceans could be devoid of fish by 2018.
In his documentaries, especially A Life on Our Planet, Attenborough discusses the impact of overconsumption on the climate in detail. He refers to economist Kate Raworth’s interpretation of the nine planetary boundaries, which define safe limits for human activities to keep the Earth stable. These boundaries include limits on how much land can be converted to agriculture, how much fertilizer and chemicals can be used, how much freshwater can be withdrawn, how healthy the oceans remain, the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the thickness of the ozone layer, the amount of air pollution, and the rate of species extinction. According to the model, staying within these boundaries helps prevent environmental collapse, while exceeding them causes serious damage. These boundaries are recurring topics of concern in his documentaries. His films explain how unsustainable resource overuse pushes these limits and illustrate the resulting effects on the environment across the globe, from deserts to the Arctic.
To understand why overconsumption occurs, Attenborough points to two primary drivers: overpopulation and capitalism. For him, it is the pressure from a growing population combined with the capitalist demand for continuous growth that fuels unsustainable resource use, which leads to ecological harm.
Central to his critique of capitalism is the unequal distribution of consumption and emissions. The richest one percent emit twice the greenhouse gases of the poorest 50 percent, showing how a small, wealthy segment disproportionately drives environmental degradation. To him, such unequal consumption patterns are not accidental but deeply linked to the capitalist system.
Capitalism, according to Attenborough, fuels overconsumption by encouraging continuous growth and excess accumulation of wealth. The system’s focus on profit and competition promotes consumption beyond sustainable limits, benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the environment and the poor. This creates a cycle where the richest emit far more, while poorer communities suffer the worst environmental impacts without the resources to adapt.
A common value statement in his work is that curbing “capitalist” excesses will leave us more “happy,” even if this means living more economically. To Attenborough, this reality calls for a socialist redistribution of resources to restrict the unfair “glory and wealth” taken by the “lucky” ones. He attributes the lack of climate consensus and progress to capitalist-generated greed, whose competition comes at the cost of increased carbon emissions.
This concern has led him to support ecocentric economic models that prioritize environmental sustainability over profit and recognize the economy as dependent on a healthy ecosystem. This circular economy entails the elimination of all human-generated non-degradable waste, including solid waste such as plastics, gas such as toxic emissions or carbon dioxide, and liquid waste such as oil spills. It suggests a continuous cycle that could eventually reverse the effects of our past environmental impact.
Alongside his critique of capitalism, Attenborough also identifies overpopulation as a major driver of overconsumption. Outside of his documentaries, he emphasizes that rapid population growth places immense pressure on the planet’s limited resources, including food, water, and energy. He argues that this escalating demand fuels unsustainable resource use, which in turn worsens the climate crisis.
To Attenborough, this rapid population growth presents a complex dilemma. Less developed nations are obligated to provide their citizens with the same standard of living as their developed counterparts, all without the luxury of emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases or consuming resources unsustainably. Developed nations with slower growth, on the other hand, want to maintain their current standard of living while reversing the consequences of decades-long emissions. Attenborough acknowledges the difficulty in achieving such growth in a “green direction,” underlining how the choice between the climate and the population is an increasingly important dilemma for humanity.
However, Attenborough’s advocacy on overpopulation is shaped by the controversy surrounding the topic. Overpopulation is regarded as a highly contentious topic amongst environmentalists. He presents this perspective cautiously when engaging with international organizations or lobbying groups, instead choosing less formal platforms such as interviews and social media to express his views more openly. As a result of this cautious approach, overpopulation remains a subtle undertone rather than a central focus in his work.
Since formal institutions are hesitant to promote this stake, it is the media that plays an enabling role for him to present his position. It allows him to express his views with candor, accordingly allowing audiences to understand his professional opinion on overconsumption and the role that overpopulation plays in it. However, even with this freedom, public polarization on the issue of overpopulation has led him to gradually shift his focus toward the broader issue of overconsumption. This reflects how a mix of public attitudes and lobbying pressure has incentivized him to transform the presentation of overconsumption in his work.
Environmental degradation
Throughout his career, David Attenborough has devoted himself to capturing the beauty and complexity of the natural world. Yet alongside this celebration of nature, he has increasingly documented its decline. A key concern in his work is environmental degradation, which refers to the sustained deterioration of natural ecosystems caused by human activity. This includes the deterioration of global biomes through the destruction of ecosystems and the rapid extinction of wildlife, along with detrimental and undesired changes to the environment.
Deforestation and inefficient farmland use are leading causes of environmental degradation, a problem that has severely struck the United Kingdom. Reports by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) suggest that only 5% of the UK’s land area is protected and managed for nature and over 50% of its flowering plant biodiversity is lost, with 1 in 6 species facing extinction.
Environmental degradation has a direct effect on climate change. Forests, which help regulate the climate, sequester nearly 16 billion metric tons of CO₂ each year, while oceans absorb around 30% of all carbon emissions released on the planet. As these systems decline, their capacity to buffer climate change is weakened, contributing to a destabilizing feedback loop.
Environmental degradation and climate change reinforce each other, as damaged ecosystems lose their ability to regulate the climate once critical thresholds are crossed. Unpredictable weather patterns thus make it difficult for these same ecosystems to adopt a new equilibrium. This “megatrend” will last for decades even if we were to go carbon neutral. Preventing further damage to the environment is therefore essential to climate stability and human survival.
Attenborough takes it upon himself to advocate for the preservation of nature, emphasizing that the value of natural habitats far exceeds the value we nominally attach to them. An emphasis on intrinsic value that extends to his desire to attach accurate monetary value to the goods and services provided by the environment. He claims that we are consuming commodities at a price far below their value, outlining that conservation of the environment would be simpler if humans could accurately quantify and thus assess the impact of their actions in terms of monetary value.
A major source of this degradation, at least through Attenborough’s eyes, is the production of meat. On multiple occasions he has demonstrated that humanity needs to change their diets, because the planet cannot maintain “billions of meat-eaters.” He references how the production of meat uses 80% of agricultural land but only 20% of the world’s calories, land that can be used for other purposes
To him, the global food supply chain is largely inefficient, suggesting that the yield of land could be sufficiently increased if we had a primarily plant-based diet. He references the claim that energy decreases between trophic levels of a food chain, as only 10% of energy transfers to the next level between plants and animals, thus building the case for the efficiency of vegetarianism.
Most people, however, are far removed from these realities and do not witness environmental degradation firsthand. Unlike Attenborough, they cannot see the collapse of ecosystems or the disappearance of species with their own eyes. This distance creates a dangerous disconnect. If people do not see the damage, they are less likely to respond to it. That is why Attenborough’s documentaries are so vital. By capturing and sharing the changes he observes, from shrinking rainforests to dying coral reefs, he aims to bridge this gap. His films are crafted not just to inform but to move people emotionally, helping them understand the urgency of the crisis and the value of what is being lost.
His passion for conservation is deeply rooted in his lifelong admiration for the natural world, shaped by his childhood experiences and decades of observing environmental change firsthand. Based in the UK, he has seen the significant loss of biodiversity and deterioration of ecosystems that result from human activity. Over his lifetime, he has witnessed the degradation of the environment and carbon in the atmosphere go from 280 parts per million to 415 parts per million. These experiences have revealed to him how fragile and interconnected life on Earth is and how environmental damage threatens not only wildlife but also human well-being.
This direct exposure to environmental decline, combined with his scientific understanding and personal passion, drives his commitment to protecting nature and encouraging urgent action to prevent further irreversible damage. His stake as a broadcaster is thus deeply influenced by his concern for a reckless degradation of the environment.
Overreliance on fossil fuels
A main policy concern for the UK is facilitating a shift away from nonrenewable resources. As of 2023, 38.68% of all energy comes from oil and 32.89% from gas, with fossil fuels accounting for 74.22% of the energy supplied in the country. This stake has led to many post-2000 climate mitigation policies focused on expanding renewable energy use.
Fossil fuels are defined as a broad class of hydrocarbon material of biological origin occurring within the earth’s crust that can be used as a source of energy. The use of fossil fuels is incredibly widespread and accounts for 80% of the world’s energy and over 40% of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, and thus has deep consequences for the planet. Attenborough is concerned about the wide global usage of fossil fuels both because they are finite, projected to run out by 2060, and more importantly, because they drive climate change.
The usage of fossil fuels has been identified as the primary driver of climate change and causes numerous harmful side effects. The use of oil releases 34 billion tons of CO₂ every year into the atmosphere. The damages to health, agriculture, property and infrastructure will accumulate to an approximate $1.7-$3.1 trillion per year by 2050. Air pollutants released from fossil fuel extraction caused 4.2 million premature deaths in 2019. The extraction of these resources exerts a double pressure on marine biodiversity, with noise and light pollution from drilling processes disturbing biological cycles along with physical deterioration of the environment. In addition, the use of fossil fuels for agriculture has been linked to increased desertification, wildfires and deforestation, especially in the Sahel region of Africa.
As a result, much of the culture surrounding climate change discourse in the UK is focused on renewable energy, an idea that Attenborough himself pushes forward. He emphasizes the importance of energy-efficient practices, believing this to be the first step in the diversification of energy sources. Attenborough keeps an optimistic view on the transition towards sustainable energy, strongly defending the idea that progress is being made, especially in the minds of the general public. He strongly believes that ideas are changing and that this is a big step forward in the transition. Attenborough’s experience makes him a credible advocate for renewable energy, which allows him to rally support for the cause at the international conferences he partakes in, the UN People’s Seat being a vivid example.
Media coverage of fossil fuels is, however, widely influenced by oil/gas companies, political figures, and news outlets, which promote fossil fuels and downplay the urgency of climate change. This makes the public discourse around renewable energy fragmented and resistant to change. In this environment, Attenborough serves as a credible and accessible voice, helping the public understand the importance of transitioning to cleaner energy through clear and straightforward explanations.
IExRAIA Summer Research Program:
This article is an excerpt from a report on David Attenborough produced as part of an RAIA research program on climate leaders. For a full picture of Ruto’s climate leadership, including the sources, read the full report. This project was fully financed by IE University’s IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs.
Author: Giulio Guiducci & Jayveer Gautam
Editor: Réka Baranyai
Project Leads: Roxane de Bergevin & Stefani Obradovic
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