Obama’s climate stance ‘enormously heartening’: David Attenborough

Famed broadcaster and naturalist, David Attenborough, backed Barack Obama's stance on climate change, after the U.S. president said that international talks in Paris could be a "turning point" in the world's efforts to tackle global warming.

"The statement made by the president of the U.S. is enormously heartening. It shows his heart is in the right place and it is very encouraging," Attenborough told CNBC from the sidelines of the COP21 climate talks being held in Paris, shortly after the President's remarks.

Obama urged attendees to deliver a meaningful deal, because the "next generation is watching".

Negotiators from 195 countries will try to reach a deal over the next two weeks, aimed at reducing global carbon emissions and limiting future global temperature rises to 2 degree Celsius or below.

Attenborough added that the right research would allow poorer nations, which are more reliant on environmentally damaging sources of energy such as oil and coal, to adopt greener types of fuel.

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David Attenborough

"Their need for energy is what actually justifies the whole thing. If we adopt the right kind of research policies, we will be able to produce energy much cheaper than that which comes from coal. It will be greatly to the advantage of undeveloped nations, instead of coal because it will be cheaper," he said.

Attenborough, aged 89, was an earlier populariser of natural history programs on television and has been knighted by his home country, the U.K.