Sir David Attenborough, a United Nations Champion of the Earth, urges for the ocean, “the lifeblood of our home,” to be saved in his powerful new documentary ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’, which was screened in the heart of Brussels on Tuesday (3 June) as part of our Cine ONU/UN Cinema series.
Released to coincide with the legendary broadcaster’s 99th birthday, the documentary examines the greatest ocean discoveries of the past century, in parallel with Sir David Attenborough’s lifetime. It portrays the marvels of the ocean and how it is essential to life on Earth, but how it is under threat from climate change, pollution and overfishing.
The Brussels screening was organised to mark World Environment Day (5 June), World Oceans Day (8 June) and ahead of the 2025 UN Ocean Conference in Nice (9-13 June).
Voiced by one of the great naturalists of our time
‘Ocean’ takes viewers on a journey across the world, with remarkable scenes of kelp forests, ocean plankton, yellowfin tuna and travelling dolphins, as Sir David Attenborough unveils the desperate and urgent reality facing our seas and marine life.
Colin Butfield, Director of ‘Ocean’ and Co-Founder and Director at Open Planet Studios, praises Sir David Attenborough’s ability to tell the story of humanity’s relationship with the natural world.
“Quite simply, David is the greatest storyteller of our time,” Colin Butfield said in an interview with the UN. “He is able to turn complicated biological issues or scientific discoveries into a story that’s compelling for a 10-year-old child but also resonates with the world expert on that subject. He can simplify it, but he never dumbs it down. He understands the power of storytelling to engage and inspire you like few others have ever done.”
A film like no other
Unlike other natural history films, which evolve during the filming process due to unpredictable encounters with animals, “this film was very much planned,” Colin Butfield said, with the team spending one year developing a script and structure.
“We split the film into three sections: discovery, destruction, and hope. We then scoured the world and scientific journals to find the best examples of all three.”
The film, which Colin Butfield said was designed for the big screen to make people feel like they were “immersed in the ocean”, was shot in 11 countries, including in the Azores (Portugal), California and Hawaii (United States), Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Liberia, Antarctica and the Mediterranean. Over 500 hours were spent filming underwater, and more than 300 days were spent filming at sea. The longest shoot was in Antarctica, which lasted for six weeks.
Co-Founder and Director at Open Planet Studios; Emily Cunningham MBE, Award-winning ocean conservationist;
Fernando Andresen Guimarães, European Commission Director for International Ocean Governance and Sustainable Fisheries; Saara Suominen, Scientific Officer at the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission during the panel discussion at the UN Cinema screening of ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’
“The ocean can often feel out of sight, out of mind; it can often be just this blanket of blue that you look out to on the shore. And we wanted to bring that to life,” Colin Butfield told the Brussels cinema audience on Tuesday. The production company he co-founded, Open Planet Studios, has open sourced all the film’s footage, building on a library they have developed of environmental footage, free for any non-profit use, so that it can be used for example in schools or by NGOs.
“That’s part of the mission […] it’s how everyone tells the story to their own audience,” said Colin Butfield.
Our ocean is under threat
Whilst recognising the importance of the ocean for food, with more than three billion people depending on it for their source of protein, the film highlights the damage caused by modern fishing methods such as bottom trawling. This is where a net is towed behind a boat on the seafloor to catch fish or shellfish. Delicate, centuries-old habitats are destroyed in an instant.
“The trawlers tear the seabeds with such force that their trails of destruction can be seen from space,” said Sir David Attenborough in the film, with images showcasing their impact in the seas next to Belgium, the United States, China and the United Kingdom.
Over three quarters of a trawler’s catch may be thrown away, the documentary highlights. The movement of marine sediment in such a way also releases large amounts of carbon, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.
To obtain footage of trawling, which the film describes as a world first, the team collaborated with scientists researching the impact of this fishing method, and attached cameras to dredges as they towed along the seabed.
“When I saw it for the first time, it was shocking. It’s one thing to know in the abstract what is happening beneath the sea, but quite another to see the sheer violence and destruction firsthand,” revealed Colin Butfield.
‘Ocean’ also depicts the biggest mass coral bleaching event in history, and warns that nearly all corals are predicted to disappear in the next 30 years. It also highlights that less than 3% of the ocean is fully protected.
Saving the ocean to protect our future
Despite the stark messages on the state of our ocean, the film’s final chapter is one of hope and optimism.
“Today, [the ocean] is in such poor health, I would find it hard not to lose hope, were it not for the most remarkable discovery of all. The ocean can recover faster than we can ever imagine. It can bounce back to life,” stated Sir David Attenborough in the film.
In the last 20 years in different habitats across the world, some well-protected areas have witnessed a return in ocean life. Entire reefs have come back in places such as Palau and Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean, and in West Papua in the far east of Indonesia, which have been protected from fishing. In the Channel Islands in California, marine life is overflowing after nature has been left alone.
Time to act
The film was released halfway through the UN Decade of Ocean Science and ahead of the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, in a hope to drive momentum towards saving our ocean.
Co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, the UN Nice conference brings together Heads of State, scientists, civil society and business leaders around a single goal: to halt the collapse of the ocean.
“We have an extraordinary opportunity now. Recovery of our ocean benefits all of us and conversely, the destruction of our ocean is detrimental for all of us,” said Colin Butfield, who calls for an end to bottom trawling in Marine Protected Areas, and for governments to go even further.
“Scientists estimate we need to protect around 30% of our coastal seas as well as the high seas. Nearly all governments agreed to this at the Convention of Biological Diversity in Montréal – now we need to see that put into practice,” he added.
The UN Ocean Conference aims to adopt a Nice Action Plan for the Ocean, and as Sir David Attenborough underscored, there is no time to lose.
“After a lifetime of filming the natural world, I cannot remember a more exciting opportunity for our species. This could be the moment of change.”
See also:
- We need you to take part in a cleanup this summer! Find out more: EU Beach Cleanup: Protecting Our Ocean Starts with Us
- Ocean with David Attenborough
- Wildlife production company Silverback recognised for inspiring nature content
- Download AWorld, the app of the United Nations’ ActNow campaign
The Cine ONU screening of ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’ was organised by the United Nations in Brussels (UN Environment Programme – Europe Office, UN Human Rights – Regional Office for Europe, UNESCO Liaison Office in Brussels & Representation to the EU and United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe), the UK Mission to the European Union, the European Commission, and Open Planet Studios.