Ask a group people to name the most iconic voice of a generation, and the chances are many of them would say David Attenborough.
The veteran television presenter and natural historian is one of our best loved public figures; a velvety voice delivering fascinating commentaries on our planet and the animals that inhabit it.
Attenborough is also one of the most prominent voices on climate change and the dangers it poses to the world we live in.
His Netflix series, Our Planet, explores the natural beauty of planet Earth, and explains the impact that climate change is having upon it.
There are some hard hitting scenes in the series, not least of which is this devastating scene featuring a baby flamingo that left some viewers in tears:During an interview with former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, Attenborough said;
“[Young people] understand the simple discoveries of science about our dependence upon the natural world,” he said. “My generation is no great example for understanding – we have done terrible things."
He said that recent protests and actions taken by young people were “the one big reason I have for feeling we are making progress. If we were not making progress with young people, we are done".
When asked by Figueres about the world his great-grandchildren will live in, Attenborough was emphatic;
“I don’t spend time thinking about that because I can’t bear it.
“I’m just coming up to 93, and so I don’t have many more years around here. I find it difficult to think beyond that because the signs aren’t good.”
Netflix viewers were left completely broken by another particularly harrowing sequence in Our Planet, which sees walruses stranded on a cliff, left confused by a combination of shrinking ice cover and their own poor eyesight.
Unaware of how high up they are, they plummet off the edge of the cliff and fall to their deaths.
You can watch the clip here:Speaking at the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) State of the Planet Address in London, the veteran broadcaster said: "Our Planet will take viewers on a spectacular journey of discovery, showcasing the beauty and fragility of our natural world.
"Today we have become the greatest threat to the health of our home but there's still time for us to address the challenges we've created, if we act now. We need the world to pay attention."
You can watch Our Planet on Netflix now.
