Sir David Attenborough has spoken of his "desperate hopes" that a crucial climate change summit hosted by the UK this year delivers concrete action – and is not blown off course by the coronavirus crisis.

The 93-year-old said the COP 26 conference in Glasgow carried the hopes of the world, and urged leaders to keep their "eyes on the ball".

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Sir David called on governments to impose a ban on deep sea mining.

He said plans by big business to "trash" the sea floor could set back efforts to tackle climate change because of the role of the oceans in storing carbon.

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Talking about the climate change conference that the UK government will host in November, he said: "I have desperate hopes for that - we've done the talking… what COP coming up in Glasgow is going to have to say is how? Where is the money? Who's going to deal with it?

"It's going to deal with nuts and bolts, with practical politics. We know where we've got to go, we know what the dangers are and we know how to fix them but now we've got to do it.

"The sweet talk that is easy enough to indulge in is not enough anymore, now is the hard talk - it's going to be hard and tough - but it carries the hopes of the world with it - and we have a big responsibility - we can influence how it goes - we're the hosts.

"The problem is things like coronavirus blow you off course but one hopes the world keeps its eye on the ball on this one."

Sir David was speaking exclusively to Sky News about the need for governments to agree a global ban on deep sea mining.

Image: Sir David has issued a warning on climate change

"We should not go in and trash an area of the globe about which we know hardly anything until we've done the proper research - in short we want a moratorium against action of industrialising the deep sea," he said.

New research, backed by Sir David and published by Fauna & Flora International, says deep sea mining could damage the oceans' ability to store carbon, which would set back efforts to curb climate change.

Industrial exploitation of the sea bed - usually for heavy metals used in electrical equipment like batteries - would also damage biodiversity and the oceans' ability to support life, the report argues.

"It is absolutely crucial, the deep sea, in many ways which we do not fully understand yet - there are ecosystems there that are very important for the health of the sea - we face the prospect of big industry going in and churning up the bottom of the ocean," Sir David said.

It is thought that oceans have absorbed around one third of all human generated carbon emissions and traps much of the heat created by them.

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Whilst small scale deep sea mining is already under way, the rules that would govern widespread industrial mining are being developed by governments now and are due to be approved later this year.

Sir David appealed to big business and governments here and across the world: "Whatever you do please do the science before you go in and destroy - because that's what it is - mining is a polite word, mining also means destruction. Destruction of an ecosystem of which we know pathetically little."

A motion calling for a moratorium is due to be debated by the United Nations in July.

David Attenborough tells Sky News young people have the power to change the future.

Whilst commercial deep sea mining hasn't yet commenced the UK government has already issued two exploration licences. A further 27 exploration licences have been issued by other countries that include France, Germany, China and Russia.

Together these licences enable companies to dig more than a million square kilometres of seabeds in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.

A government spokesperson told Sky News: "The UK continues to press for the highest international environmental standards, including on deep sea mineral extraction.

"While we have sponsored two exploration licences, these allow only for marine research to understand the effects of deep sea mining. We will not issue a single exploitation licence without a full assessment of the environmental impact."

In a wide ranging interview Sir David spoke of his admiration for climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg: "My reading of Greta Thunberg is that she is very respectful for the science and says in a modest way 'I'm not a scientist, I have not studied the upper atmosphere of the past 30 years but I know people who have and I know what they say and the rest of the world ought to take notice', that's all she's asking."

Image: Sir David says Greta Thunberg is 'very respectful for the science'

He added: "The world we're talking about belongs to people who are at the moment young - they don't have a vote, they have no way of expressing themselves... but what young people can do is convince politicians that they mean it.

"I welcome the fact that young people are explicit and clear in what they want to happen. It's tomorrow's problem, but they are tomorrow."

Asked if overpopulation or humans encroaching on the animal world could have contributed to the coronavirus's development, he said: "Epidemics can go round the world and have gone round the world in the past - I'd like to say woah, it's all our fault but that argument doesn't hold water... I can't really say that what we're going through now is a consequence of overpopulation."