Veteran British broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough will warn leaders at the G-7 summit on Sunday that the decisions made by the world's richest nations this decade are "the most important in human history."
Attenborough will address world leaders by video on the final day of the summit and urge them to take action on climate change to avoid an environmental catastrophe.
Climate change is a key focus of the last day of talks in Cornwall in southwestern England, and the group is expected to announce new financing plans to help poorer countries reduce carbon emissions.
All G-7 nations have pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but many environmentalists fear that timeline will be too late.
In remarks released ahead of his address to leaders, Attenborough said it is "beyond doubt" that the climate is warming, and that "our societies are nations are unequal."
"The natural world today is greatly diminished. That is undeniable," 95-year-old Attenborough said, according to Sky News.
"Our climate is warming fast. That is beyond doubt. Our societies and nations are unequal and that is sadly plain to see. But the question science forces us to address specifically in 2021 is whether as a result of these intertwined facts we are on the verge of destabilizing the entire planet?
"If that is so, then the decisions we make this decade - in particular the decisions made by the most economically advanced nations— are the most important in human history."
Attenborough, best known for documentaries such as Planet Earth and Africa, is addressing world leaders after being recently appointed the "people's advocate" for the global climate summit that will take place later this year.
Britain is hosting the United Nations' COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.
Meanwhile, hundreds of environmental protesters descended on Cornwall to draw the attention of world leaders on Saturday.
Some activists from Oxfam assembled on Falmouth beach to protest climate change wearing masks depicting the leaders attending the summit.
Max Lawson, Oxfam's head of policy, told the Associated Press that activists want the G-7 nations—the U.S., the U.K, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan—to commit to bigger reductions in carbon emissions and financing to help poor countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.
