The United Nations has announced that British journalist David Attenborough has won its prestigious 2022 Champion of the Earth award. The award is the United Nations' highest environmental honor for those who have dedicated their lives to addressing earth issues such as climate change, species extinction and pollution.
Sir David Attenborough is the fifth global figure to win this prestigious award in the Lifetime Achievement category.
The award was won by Robert Pollard, environmental justice, in 2020, and Joanne Carling, advocate for the environment and indigenous environmental rights in 2018. Wang Wenbiao won the award in 2017 for his leadership in green industry, and Jose Sarukhan Kermes, a plant biologist, in 2016 for his interest. biodiversity issues.
deserved honor
Attenborough, 95, is the world's most famous natural history journalist.
He wrote and presented, during his career that dawned with the sunrise of visual radio, a number of the most influential documentaries about the state of the blue planet;
Among them is the 9-part "Life" documentary series.
This special UN honor for British journalist Attenborough is in recognition of the impact his work has had on the global environmental movement.
Attenborough has spent 70 years of his career tracking the beauty of nature and uncovering the threats it faces.
Throughout his career, he presented his vision for a more sustainable future.
The United Nations report issued in this regard states that Attenborough has cooperated with the United Nations Environment Program for at least 4 decades, during which he presented, with his voice, a series of campaigns and short films that highlighted the organization's efforts to confront the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and pollution.
David Attenborough has made a number of the most influential documentaries on the state of the blue planet (European)
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), stated in the UN report announcing the award that "Atenborough was an extraordinary source of inspiration to many people. He discussed Earth issues before others."
"Sir David Attenborough has dedicated his life to documenting the love story between man and nature, and then spreading it to the world," Andersen adds in a press release issued by the United Nations Environment Programme.
"If we have a chance to avoid the collapse of climate and biodiversity, it is because millions of us are infatuated with the love of the blue planet that Attenborough's work showed us on TV," Andersen says.
Attenborough started his career early after graduating when he joined the British Broadcasting Corporation (European)
bus rally
David Attenborough graduated from Cambridge University in 1947 and quickly got his career started when he joined the BBC at a time when television screens were creeping into homes.
Attenborough is best known for his work with the BBC's Natural History Unit, during which he produced a number of documentaries that were watched by hundreds of millions of viewers around the world such as Planet Earth, Blue Planet and Life on Earth. (Life on Earth) and Our Planet. Attenborough is thus a leading advocate for the protection of the natural world, who has fiercely condemned the inaction of world leaders on climate change.
In addition, Attenborough's call to conserve and restore biodiversity, transition to renewable energy, reduce climate change and promote plant-rich diets contribute to the achievement of several sustainable development goals.
Attenborough has defended in recent decades a number of environmental issues, including climate change (communication sites)
relentless global effort
According to a report published by the "Live Science" website, Attenborough is a huge influence on scientists and conservationists.
In 2016, the British Antarctic Survey named its research vessel in his honor.
In recent decades, Attenborough has also advocated on a number of environmental issues, including climate change, deforestation, overfishing and plastic pollution, as well as campaigning for renewable energy.
Speaking at the United Nations Climate Conference in Poland in 2018, Attenborough warned of the consequences of climate change, which could lead to the "collapse of our civilization" if change continues unabated.
Attenborough also gave an impassioned speech at the United Nations Climate Change Conference "COP26 summit" in Glasgow in 2021 in which he asked world leaders whether "this is how our story will end; the story of the smartest species doomed for powerlessness." About seeing the big picture and pursuing short-term goals.