What Leaders Must Do Now: Sir David King's Call for Climate Action

Sir David King is one of the world's foremost climate change leaders, renowned for his tireless work in confronting the global climate crisis. Serving as the UK Government's Chief Scientific Adviser from 2000 to 2007, he was instrumental in placing climate change at the top of the international agenda.

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As Founder and Chair of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, Sir David continues to influence global decision-makers, offering science-driven solutions to protect the planet's future. His leadership spans academia, government, and international diplomacy, earning him recognition as a trusted voice on sustainability and environmental action.

In this exclusive interview with The Sustainability Speakers Agency, Sir David King shares his insights on the causes of climate change, the urgent actions needed for a sustainable future, and the responsibility leaders carry in shaping humanity's survival.

■From your perspective as a leading climate scientist, what do you see as the primary drivers of climate change, and what urgent steps must humanity take to reduce its impact?

Sir David King: The major cause of climate change is, with our growing population and the growing amount of finance in that population, our use of fossil fuels has been expanding rapidly over the last 120 years. The result of this is that we've put an enormous amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

So I have to give numbers because I'm a scientist. In the pre-industrial period, there were 270-275 parts per million of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Today, we're at over 500 parts per million. That's what we've done.

And if I could put a very simple phrase into that, it means that imagine that you're lying on a bed and you're feeling cold, you pull a duvet over yourself and that duvet keeps you warm. That's the function of greenhouse gases — it keeps us warm like a duvet. But if you put a second duvet on your bed, which is what we've been doing quite simply, you get hot.

Now that's where we are today. And the biggest challenge for all of us in humanity — and this is the biggest challenge we've ever had to face up to — is what is happening in the Arctic Circle region.