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Europe can expect increased migratory pressure from Africa unless measures are taken to prevent global warming, warned Sir David Attenborough in a strong warning to policymakers: time is counted to save the natural world from disappearance.
Speaking at the International Monetary Fund's spring meeting in Washington DC, the broadcaster and environmentalist said that, according to current trends, parts of the world would soon become uninhabitable and people would be forced to move.
Attenborough, 92, said it was essential that countries meet the commitments made in the 2015 Paris climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions because time was running out for the planet .
Asked by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, on the existence of a link between migration and climate change, Attenborough said: "This is happening in Europe. People come from Africa because they can not live where they are. "
He added that migratory pressures would become stronger as temperatures continue to rise as more and more parts of the world become uninhabitable.
Attenborough, who published the series Our Planet on Netflix, said, "I have trouble exaggerating the danger. It's the new extinction and we're halfway there. We have terrible problems and the more we expect to do something, the worse things will get. "
Noting that "70% of the bird species are gone," he said, "We now have time, 10 years, maybe 20 years, to do something about it. The longer we stay, the more difficult it will be and if we leave it too long, we will not be able to do anything against it and the natural system will collapse. "
Attenborough compared the damage done to the natural world to an investor who eats capital: "It's good to make a profit, but you would not be stupid enough to eat capital. But that's what we do all the time with the natural world. "
Protecting the future of the planet meant that governments might have to risk the wrath of voters by ending subsidies for fossil fuels and imposing carbon taxes.
"We support and subsidize the very things that damage our planet. The natural world is so delicate. He needs all the protection possible. Sometimes this means that governments have to make painful and costly decisions.
"Carbon fuels are at the root of many of our problems and we are subsidizing them."
Attenborough said it gave him hope that support for environmentalism was strong among young people and that politicians should listen: "They say: 'Do something and we will support you.'
He added that examples of international cooperation to help the natural world, including the agreement on the end of whaling, had been signed, but that: "The opportunity will not last forever. If we do not act in accordance with the Paris agreement on climate change, we will have real problems. "
Chancellor Philip Hammond echoed Attenborough's theme during his visit to Washington for the IMF Spring Meeting.
Hammond plans to ask other finance ministers to put sustainable growth and the fight against climate change at the heart of their economies.
"We must work with our partners around the world to create a safer, more prosperous and more sustainable economy for future generations," he said at the inaugural meeting of a global group of dedicated finance ministers. the use of economic levers to fight the climate. change.
The Treasury announced that Mr. Hammond would make his first appearance before the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action, building on his previous warnings that appeals by youths to repair the damage caused to the environment must be taken into account if we want the world economies to continue to grow and capitalism to continue to succeed.
Hammond will argue that environmentalism is good for the economy, highlighting the 430,000 UK jobs in low-carbon activities. The Chancellor will insist that global guidelines to combat climate change must be supported by urgent action.
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