Editing David Attenborough (section)

===Politics===
In 1998, Attenborough described himself as "a standard, boring left-wing liberal" and expressed the view that the [[market economy]] was "misery".<ref name="new statesman 1998"/> In 2013, Attenborough joined the rock guitarists [[Brian May]] and [[Slash (musician)|Slash]] in opposing the government's policy on the [[Badger culling in the United Kingdom|cull of badgers in the UK]] by participating in a song dedicated to badgers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jun/04/slash-david-attenborough-brian-may-badger-swagger |title=Slash and David Attenborough join Brian May in pro-badger supergroup |newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 June 2013 |access-date=16 June 2013 |last1=Michaels |first1=Sean |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827184207/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jun/04/slash-david-attenborough-brian-may-badger-swagger |archive-date=27 August 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> Attenborough was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''[[The Guardian]]'' expressing their hope that [[Scotland]] would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in the 2014 [[2014 Scottish independence referendum|referendum on that issue]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |title=Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories &#124; Politics |newspaper=The Guardian |date=7 August 2014 |access-date=26 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140817131736/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/07/celebrities-open-letter-scotland-independence-full-text |archive-date=17 August 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Prior to the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 UK general election]], Attenborough was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party]]'s [[Caroline Lucas]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/24/celebrities-sign-statement-support-caroline-lucas-not-green-party |title=Celebrities sign statement of support for Caroline Lucas – but not the Greens |work=The Guardian |location=London |first=Jessica |last=Elgot |date=24 April 2015 |access-date=22 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324092533/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/24/celebrities-sign-statement-support-caroline-lucas-not-green-party |archive-date=24 March 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In a 2020 interview, Attenborough criticised excess [[capitalism]] as a driver of ecological imbalance, stating "the excesses the capitalist system has brought us, have got to be curbed somehow", and that "greed does not actually lead to joy", although he added "That doesn't mean to say that capitalism is dead".<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 October 2020 |title=Attenborough: 'Curb excess capitalism' to save nature |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54268038 |access-date=8 October 2020 |archive-date=8 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008143757/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54268038 |url-status=live}}</ref> He also lamented the lack of [[Politics of climate change|international cooperation on climate change]]: "There should be no dominant nation on this planet."<ref>{{cite news |last=Blum |first=Jeremy |date=10 October 2020 |title=David Attenborough Calls Out The 'Excesses' Of Capitalism In A World Facing Climate Change |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/david-attenborough-covid-19-excesses-capitalism_n_5f81e2f8c5b6e6d033a3302d |work=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=12 October 2020 |archive-date=11 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011234922/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/david-attenborough-covid-19-excesses-capitalism_n_5f81e2f8c5b6e6d033a3302d |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, Attenborough told the leaders of the [[47th G7 summit]] that "tackling climate change was now as much a political challenge as it was a scientific or technological one" and urged for more action.<ref>{{cite news |title=Environmentalist Attenborough tells G7: We need the will to tackle climate change |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/environmentalist-attenborough-tells-g7-we-need-will-tackle-climate-change-2021-06-13/ |access-date=13 June 2021 |work=Reuters |date=13 June 2021 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613112925/https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/environmentalist-attenborough-tells-g7-we-need-will-tackle-climate-change-2021-06-13/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Attenborough also stated that "(we) are on the verge of destabilising the entire planet."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Dulcie |last2=Lee |first2=Joseph |title=G7 to agree tough measures on burning coal to tackle climate change |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-57456641 |access-date=13 June 2021 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=13 June 2021 |archive-date=12 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612222526/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-57456641 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

In 2023, Attenborough was described by the ''[[New Statesman]]'' as a figure "invaluable to green diplomacy" in the UK, placing him twenty-third in their list of Britain's most powerful left-wing figures, above many elected politicians.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 May 2023 |title=The New Statesman's left power list |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2023/05/the-new-statesmans-left-power-list |access-date=13 December 2023 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US |archive-date=15 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115165413/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2023/05/the-new-statesmans-left-power-list |url-status=live }}</ref>