Sir David Attenborough appears in a new, short film made for COP26 by The Wildlife Trusts. In it, he calls for greater focus on nature’s power to store carbon and help address the climate crisis – and for bold action, supporting local communities and landowners to create thriving and connected wild places on land and at sea to protect ourselves and the nature that depends on them.

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says:

“Sir David has backed The Wildlife Trusts for over half a century and we’re very grateful to him for supporting our film. He’s right behind our work to restore nature to help wildlife recover and combat climate change. Our society faces a huge challenge with the inextricably linked climate and nature crises, and so we must invest far more in wilder landscapes to store carbon and protect ourselves and wildlife from extreme weather conditions.

“New research shows that the Government needs to commit at least £1.2 billion extra each year in nature – to deliver vital health, wellbeing and economic benefits post-pandemic, limit and mitigate the impact of extreme weather, and restore our treasured wildlife. It’s not too late to repair habitats on a grand scale to store carbon and help nature recover – but we need to act now.”

In the film, Sir David says:

“Nature has been there for us when we needed it the most.  

Yet we have allowed our natural world and climate to reach breaking point, with almost half of our UK wildlife in decline and some of our best-loved species at risk of extinction. 

As the climate emergency intensifies, the threat to life on earth becomes ever greater. 

But, we have the choice of a better – and wilder – future. A future where wildlife thrives alongside people. A future where nature helps us in the fight against climate change.  

We know that we need to stop burning fossil fuels but we must also recognise the role of nature in helping us turn the tide. We must bring wildlife and wild places back on an ambitious scale, in turn creating new livelihoods and protecting the planet for future generations. 

Our lives depend on it. 

Nature has extraordinary powers to lock up carbon dioxide; to provide clean air and water; to help protect us from flooding and extreme weather; and to provide the food which sustains us. 

For decades, The Wildlife Trusts have been leading the way to put nature into recovery; bringing back precious saltmarsh and peatlands; and reintroducing beavers, our natural water engineers. 

But we can’t do it alone. We need bold action, supporting local communities and landowners to create thriving and connected wild places on land and at sea. 

It’s not too late to win the fight against the climate and nature crises. Given the chance, nature can recover in the most remarkable ways.  

But we need to act quickly. The time is now to create a wilder future.”