Columban Competition Winning Article: 'Changemakers - Sir David Attenborough'

Ella Bothwell

Ella Bothwell, of St Richard Gwyn School in Flint, came joint third of the British entries in the Columban Schools Competition on the subject: 'Anyone can make a difference: 21st Century Changemakers'. She wrote about environmental activist Sir David Attenborough and linked environmental work to imperatives in Catholic Social Teaching.

David Attenborough is an English broadcaster, natural historian and author, known for his educational television programmes. In 1974 he was honoured with a CBE (Commander of the British Empire), then in 1985 he received his knighthood. Attenborough graduated from Clare Collage, Cambridge, with a master's degree in natural science and in 1952 he became a television producer working for the BBC. Recognised by the queen, he is known to be, 'the man with the most honorary degrees in the UK' as his full title is Sir David Attenborough OM GCMG CH CVO CBE.

Sir David is well known for supporting, founding and having a place within many environmental causes, including the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) founded by himself in the 1960s and being president of Butterfly conservation and Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. Along with these, he supports all wildlife charities and causes, saying: "The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it," on the official WWF website.

Attenborough has faced many challenges during his career, including the fact that when he first began his career with the BBC there were very few nature programmes so he had to start them himself. In the 1970s Attenborough was inspired by 'The Ascent of Man' and many other series, to travel all around the world and share his view on the wonders of the natural world. This too was one of his biggest challenges as a programme this ambitious had never been attempted before.

The encyclical 'Laudato Si' written by Pope Francis in 2015 is about the care for our common home, something that David Attenborough's life's work is heavily related to. In this encyclical, Pope Francis talks about how we must take urgent action to save our world. David Attenborough encourages this as he said that we are currently experiencing a change in the environment that has never been seen before and that the United Nations Climate Change Conference that took place in November 2021 was a crucial moment in the history and future of the world we live in. Catholics believe that our world is all God's creation and that everything that happens is in his power as God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent. Pope Francis encourages us to, 'listen and respond to the cry of the Earth'. David Attenborough told the UN at COP26 that 'it is too late to avoid climate change,' suggesting that we must begin to make a difference as the rate of climate change is beginning to rise quickly and we have to respond soon.

CST (Catholic Social Teaching) has five strands - Solidarity, Human Dignity, Common Good, Subsidiarity and Preferential Option for the Poor. David Attenborough has centred his life around following Common Good through all the work he has done, as he dedicated his life, time and money to saving the planet and making a difference in the world. Sir David showed his passion and care for restoring the world as he said, "it's surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth." We can understand that Attenborough is invested in the survival of all life on Earth as he tells that if humanity want to survive then we have to learn to 'work with nature, not against it.'

Sir David also recognises everyone as brothers and sisters, just as the encyclical 'Fratelli Tutti' and solidarity teaches. He works to save the planet, an example of this being that he has attended most COP (Conference of Parties) meetings to work together with others to prevent climate change as much as possible. In the latest COP meeting - COP26 - the UN science panel stated that "human activity is driving up global temperatures" and Attenborough responded by saying that this proved that him and others were not "'making a fuss about nothing" and not "raising awareness about nothing." This was proven as an IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report in Autumn 2021 gave a 'code red' for the human driven global temperatures as it is expected that over the next 20 years temperatures are expected to reach, or even exceed, 1.5°C.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goat can be related to the work of David Attenborough as Jesus teaches the community that a good person, a sheep, would do what God wants them to do and help anyone who may need it; and a bad person, a goat, would ignore the needs of the earth and others. By being a good person God would reward you with heaven but a bad person would not be rewarded through heaven. David Attenborough would be like a sheep as he cares for the Earth and is always inspiring other people to do the same. As David Attenborough has given up all that he had to help the Earth he has done what Jesus taught the people to do and help people and nature no matter what.

In 'Laudato Si', Pope Francis said "We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations" and David Attenborough may support this through his actions as he is working hard to save the planet so that future generations have the "natural world in its pristine state" that he grew up with and spoke about in his book 'A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and Vision for the Future.'

Sir David urges everyone to take action now and Catholics follow this through the action plan of 'Laudato Si' where Pope Francis says we must "bring the whole human family together for we know that things can (and will) change."

Sir David says, "It is the only way out of this crisis that we ourselves have created. We must rewild the world."