"There are oil slicks and bits of plastic floating in the remotest part of the oceans. We have destroyed nature."
David Attenborough has called for politicians to step up and work together in order to ward off the worst of climate change.
Appearing as a special guest on the WWF's Call of the Wild podcast, the 94-year-old broadcaster was damning in his criticism of humanity's environmental damage.
He said: "There are oil slicks and bits of plastic floating in the remotest part of the oceans. We have destroyed nature."
Speaking to host Cel Spellman about the most heartbreaking moment of his career to-date, Attenborough said:
"I suppose the most obvious one that I remember particularly vividly, of course, is the first time when I went to a coral reef.
"I thought I was going to dive in, in eastern Australia on the Barrier Reef, and start seeing the most marvellous, beautiful, extraordinary, wonderful wonderland. It was a cemetery. It was just white, that coral. And we were responsible."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbCR0KSU52g
Attenborough shared his advice for how younger people and politicians need to collaborate to solve the climate crisis.
He said: "The world's in trouble and they [young people] can do something about it.
"But also that they demand the politicians who have more power than any single and private individuals should get together and solve it. And that it's solvable. We know what to do. We know how to do it. All that's left is doing it."
Attenborough recently received the coronavirus vaccine, and has been critical of those opposed to the Covid-19 jab.
He labelled anti-vaxxers an "ignorant minority", and has previously spoken out about the efficacy of vaccines.
He said: "I'm sufficient of a scientist still, I hope, to realise this is the thing to do.
"The virus has made us feel we are more vulnerable, and vulnerable to what is happening to the world".
You can listen to David Attenborough on Call of the Wild with Cel Spellman and WWF on Apple, Spotify and all podcast providers.
