Transcript Chatham House Prize 2019: Sir David Attenborough and BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit HM The Queen Sir David Attenborough Presenter, Blue Planet II Mark Brownlow Series Producer, Blue Planet II Dr Julian Hector Head, BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit The views expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the speaker(s) and participants, and do not necessarily reflect the view of Chatham House, its staff, associates or Council. Chatham House is independent and owes no allegiance to any government or to any political body. It does not take institutional positions on policy issues. This document is issued on the understanding that if any extract is used, the author(s)/speaker(s) and Chatham House should be credited, preferably with the date of the publication or details of the event. Where this document refers to or reports statements made by speakers at an event, every effort has been made to provide a fair representation of their views and opinions. The published text of speeches and presentations may differ from delivery. © The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2019. 10 St James’s Square, London SW1Y 4LE T +44 (0)20 7957 5700 F +44 (0)20 7957 5710 www.chathamhouse.org Patron: Her Majesty The Queen Chairman: Jim O’Neill Director: Dr Robin Niblett Charity Registration Number: 208223 2 Chatham House Prize 2019: Sir David Attenborough and BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit Moderator: Karen Sack President and CEO, Ocean Unite Host: Dr Robin Niblett CMG Director, Chatham House 20 November 2019 3 Chatham House Prize 2019: Sir David Attenborough and BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit Dr Robin Niblett CMG So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Chatham House, and most importantly, welcome to the Chatham House Prize 2019 Award Ceremony. We’re absolutely delighted that so many of our members are here, along with guest supporters, Chatham House Council, Panel of Senior Advisors, and I know, as always, members of the vibrant diplomatic community here, and our very large civil society community, based here in London. I’d like to say a special word of welcome to the members who are joining us here in the room today, and hopefully, those who are joining us livestreamed, as well. Because it’s you who vote for the prize winners of the Chatham House Prize every year, so we’re really pleased that you’ll be able to join us today. And I also want to do a special shout out for some of our special guests. Many of you may feel you’re special, but we definitely have a special, with the – our guests from the All Saints School in Dagenham. They were the first school that we reached out to, in 2017, when we decided we wanted to extend the kinds of debates that we hold at Chatham House, to younger and more diverse audiences. They’ll be here somewhere, ‘cause they ask the really difficult questions, is the one thing we learnt when they and their Assistant Head, Nick Pauro, embraced this idea in November 2017, and the first meeting they came to was titled, Breaking the Bubble and Opening Up Political Debate, and they certainly did that that day. Now we’ve got a very busy 90 minutes or so. So I just want to give you a sense of the flow, and before I do that, obviously, I would like to recognise Sir David Attenborough and Dr Julian Hector, in the front row, with the BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit, as they are here today as recipients of the 209 – 2019 Chatham House Prize. In recognition, as you know, of the remarkable work they and their colleagues have done, highly influential work, on the impact of plastics on the world’s oceans. They’ve raised the level of global public awareness of this challenge, and with it, the broader environmental impacts that humanity are having on our planet as a whole. Now, we’re going to have a chance to hear from them in a minute, in conversation with Karen Sack, and the present CEO of Ocean Unite, and Mark Brownlow, who’s the series Producer of Blue Planet II, a critical part of the team that made this all come together. A little after 6:00pm we’re going to pause the proceedings to rearrange the stage for the presentation of the prize. After the presentation, and some remarks by Julian and Sir David, if I could say right now, we would like you to please all remain in your seats. Do not storm the stage and do not leave the room, because we have to create some space for them to head out. But we will have a short second video for you to play. Last thing, this is all on the record, very Chatham House, but it’s all on the record today. Please feel free to share your comments, your photos, via Twitter, if you want, by #ChathamHousePrize or CHPrize, but please make sure your phones are on silent. And Chatham House staff are dotted, I was going to say around the sides, but this is not all Chatham House staff round the sides, this is definitely a lot of our guests as well. But if you need them at all, they’re all here. So, let me now introduce, before she comes up and before a little film, that I do want to say a word of introduction to Karen Sack, who, as I said, is present CEO of Ocean Unite. She’ll be moderating our panel. Ocean Unite was founded in 2015, to unify and mobilise influential voices at key moments that matter to drive ocean conservation. She’s based in Washington D.C., just flew over, but she has 20 years’ experience on international environmental organisations and questions. She was formerly the Senior Director for International Oceans at The Pew Charitable Trusts, which as many of you here will know, has played a really central role in raising awareness about the challenges to the world’s oceans, and she initiated, in fact, the Global Ocean Commission, during her time there. And before that she was Head of 4 Chatham House Prize 2019: Sir David Attenborough and BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit Greenpeace’s International Political & Business Unit and also, their International Oceans campaign. But in any case, before she comes on stage, please stay where you are. We do have a quick film that’s going to set things up and then Karen, you will come up and take things from here. So, welcome all, but please keep quiet and let’s enjoy the film. Sir David Attenborough Video A pod of short-finned pilot whales. They live together in what are perhaps the most closely knit of families in the whole ocean. Today, in the Atlantic waters off Europe, as elsewhere, they have to share the ocean with plastic. A mother is holding her newborn young. It’s dead. She is reluctant to let it go and has been carrying it around for many days. In top predators like these, industrial chemicals can build up to lethal levels, and plastic could be part of the problem. As plastic breaks down, it combines with these other pollutants that are consumed by vast numbers of marine creatures. It’s possible her calf may have been poisoned by her own contaminated milk. Pilot whales have big brains. They can certainly experience emotions. Judging from the behaviour of the adults, the loss of the infant has affected the entire family. Unless the flow of plastics and industrial pollution into the world’s oceans is reduced, marine life will be poisoned by them for many centuries to come [applause]. Karen Sack Thank you, Julian, and welcome everyone. It’s – that piece just takes your breath away. It is so emblematic of everything that is going on in the ocean, and I think that just embodies exactly why Blue Planet II is winning this award, because it certainly brought home the critical issues of ocean life, and the amazing life that’s out there, but also, what’s impacting everyone. So, we are going to have a conversation this evening. We’re going to start with a few questions, amongst the panel, and then we’re going to open up to the floor, so prepare. We’re looking forward to a lot of engagement. I’d also like to welcome everyone who is watching online tonight, and hope that you will enjoy this evening as much as we are. I’m going to briefly introduce our panellists, who are just – there’s so much to say about them, that it – that’s, I think, probably my most difficult task, and then we’re going to jump straight into some questions. So, first, we have Julian Hector here. He is the Head of the BBC Natural History Unit. He’s been leading it for 25 years, with 300 staff, creating some of the best in class television on nature, around the world, for BBC channels. And under his leadership, this list is just amazing, I had to cut it down, too, but I’ve written some notes. So, Julian has led the development of Planet Earth II, Blue Planet II, Dynasties, Spring Watch, Blue Planet Live, and Seven Worlds, One Planet, which I understand is airing here, although we have yet to see it in the US, and then my personal favourite, Animals With Cameras, which is just amazing. So it’s wonderful to have you with us. We’re also incredibly privileged to have Mark Brownlow, who was the Executive Producer and Series Producer of Blue Planet II, which has to be the best job in the world.