British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has warned the Coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic could divert our attention away from action against climate change.

The Veteran, whose film A Life On Our Planet has been postponed until November because of the crisis, is said to be ‘washing his hands and observing social distance guidelines’.

‘Short term problem’

According to the Mirror, Attenborough said: “There have always been plagues. There are diseases. That is part of the natural world and tightly packed as we are and travel as we do, it is hardly surprising it spreads.

“We have a short term problem with coronavirus so we quarantine and do this or that. The consequence is, nobody takes any action on the climate at all if we are not careful.

“The environmental crisis is coming to a very critical point where politicians need convincing by the electorate that the electorate are serious.”

‘Set back efforts’

TV presenter and vegan advocate Chris Packham has also spoken out about how the COVID 19 outbreak could ‘set back climate change efforts’.

The environmentalist said the current pandemic will impact many things, including the ‘natural world’, and stressed that ‘climate change isn’t going away’.