Sir David Attenborough warns Extinction Rebellion risks disenchanting 'an awful lot of people'
Extinction Rebellion risks disenchanting 'an awful lot of people' and the group should not break the law, Sir David Attenborough has warned.
The 94-year-old broadcaster said that although he agrees with their cause, the activist collective has disturbed the lives of normal people in a negative way.
Earlier this month, the group was criticised by people across the political spectrum for blocking the printing presses of most of Britain's major newspapers and last year stopped many getting to work by disrupting the London Underground.
Sir David told BBC Breakfast: "You have to be careful that you don't break the law... .We have to treat the people we share our community with, with respect.
"Disturbing their lives, to such an extent that innocent people can't get about their own business, is a serious thing to do and could disenchant an awful lot of people."
He added: "Of course I agree with their message, it's a question of what is politic and sensible in persuading other people to join you?"
The environmentalist, who recently joined Instagram to educate the young about climate change, said he first noticed the world was in trouble in the 1960s.
The "first time I had absolutely indubitable proof (of what is happening to the natural world) was back in the 60s," he explained.
"I swam in a coral reef in Australia and saw a damaged reef.
"It was a terrible sight... like a cemetery."
Although he was not at all used to social media, Sir David became the fastest person to have one million followers on Instagram.
The broadcaster and naturalist said he had been warning about the environment for decades and "yet suddenly, in the last five years maybe, it's as though people have woken up, it's young people... and not before time".
