“Sir David has stepped into the political jungle this week”

Utility Week's policy correspondent, David Blackman, gives his view on Sir David Attenborough's appearance at the House of Commons this week, and asks whether the words of such an influential figure might add an air of urgency to the political agenda around climate change

Rather than getting up close and personal with gorillas, Sir David Attenborough stepped into the political jungle this week.

He was at the House of Commons to submit his views on how to tackle climate change to the business, energy and climate change committee.

Unsurprisingly, the committee room was more packed than normal. And at the climax of the hour-long Q&A session, there was a moment of theatre as the 93-year-old swivelled around to draw the MPs’ attention to the largely youthful audience, pointing out that this issue is all about their future.

Recently, Parliament has enshrined in legislation the target that the UK should achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Setting this date strikes the right balance, said Sir David, but setting far off targets is one thing, putting in place the practical policies to turn them into action is another thing entirely.

The Committee on Climate Change identified what it saw as a worrying disconnect between the government’s rhetoric on climate change and the measures it is putting in place.

And that gap has widened over the past year.

Meanwhile maintaining political focus on the state of the environment will become more difficult as attention shifts back to Brexit before the planned withdrawal date of 31 October.

Maybe somebody should send a clip of Sir David’s testimony to the Tory leadership contestants to concentrate their minds on an issue that looks set to define the lives of their children and grandchildren.