Sir David Attenborough slammed the Australian government’s response to climate change as the country's prime minister Scott Morrison skipped the United Nations Climate Summit in favour of a rally for President Donald Trump.

While the United Kingdom has reduced its carbon emissions over the past 12 years, emissions from Australia have increased and the country is among the worst polluters per capita.

Sir David said the current Australian government had departed from the previous government’s commitment to tackling climate change.

“(They had been) saying all the right things… then you suddenly say, 'No it doesn't matter... it doesn't matter how much coal we burn... we don't give a damn what it does to the rest of the world’,” he said.

Sir David noted that Mr Morrison brought a lump of coal into one of Australia’s houses of Parliament in 2017, calling out to the opposition: “Don’t be scared, it won’t hurt you”.

“If you weren't opening a coal mine okay I would agree, it's a joke. But you are opening a coal mine,” he said.