Article Dated: 25 March 2019
After 67 years with the BBC, Sir David Attenborough has made a strategic jump, straight to Netflix, in a last-ditch bid to wake the world up to the climate crisis. His new eight-part series Our Planet, launching April 5, aims to reach more than 200 million viewers with one clear message: we’re out of time.
At 92, the most recognisable naturalist on the planet isn't slowing down. He’s doubling down and targeting the big players. “The BBC, powerful and pervasive though it is, can’t reach 200 million people overnight. Netflix can,” he said. “The message is urgent. The natural world is in crisis. We are in trouble.”
The documentary, filmed in Ultra High Definition across 50 countries over four years captures stunning yet sobering footage: polar bears stranded on melting ice, whales recovering from the brink, and ecosystems hanging by a thread. The visuals are breathtaking. The warning is blunt.
Attenborough doesn’t shy away from calling out the major culprits either. With the U.S. sitting just behind China as one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, he’s ready to challenge America’s most high-profile climate denier. “It would be cowardly not to try to convince Mr Trump,” he said. “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”
The veteran broadcaster suggests Trump’s refusal to acknowledge climate science may be less about ignorance and more about influence, citing political donations and industry pressure. But he remains hopeful that if political will existed, the worst impacts of climate change could still be avoided or reversed.
Our Planet delivers not just a wake-up call, but a final invitation to act, before the damage becomes irreversible. “No more meetings. No more delays,” Attenborough says. “We want people to know what is happening now.”
