Gary's perhaps the only person of the many I've mentioned
who will have the joy of working in this building.
For the rest of us it is enough to see the result
and know that it will be a flagship for the University,
space for generations of students and staff to come 
who will undoubtedly contribute to solving some of the
many global problems we face
generated by man's impact on global ecosystems, animal and plant life across the globe.
If this building assists in finding solutions to those problems
it will have been justified many, many times over.
It therefore gives me great pleasure to invite Sir David Attenborough
to unveil the plaque which will sit on this building to record its official opening
and to say a few words to us, thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
Vice Chancellor, my Lord Mayor, ladies and gentlemen,
members of the University
thank you very much indeed for inviting me
to this great occasion.
There can be no more important area of knowledge
for humanity at the moment than the life sciences.
It has never been more important, ever
that human beings should understand the workings of the world which is our home.
We know that we're in trouble
and we know that it's going to get worse
and the only way that we will actually deal with the problems
that are facing this planet of ours
which we have created
is to understand what goes on.
We knew we were in trouble fifty years ago.
We thought that we were going to be able to solve the problems
that were facing the animals and plants of the world
by looking after one or two species that were endangered.
Well of course that was naive to a degree,
We now know enough about the complexity of this planet
to realise that part of the dangers of what we have been doing
over the past 200, 300 years
 they can be solved
but they can't be solved unless people understand what's going on
and understand the importance of dealing with these problems.
And we're only on the beginnings of that.
It's places like this that are going to provide the answers to what we do
But more than that, it's places like this
which will spread the understanding to the community at large, the world at large
of how important it is for us to do something.
Unless we understand that
the very systems on which we live
- the food we eat, the air we breathe - 
unless we understand how the world is affected by these things
and what we do affects these things
we are going to be in real trouble.
In the end of course, it's politicians that are going to have to take the decisions
because this is a world-wide problem.
But we in Britain have been leaders
 in understanding the life sciences.
And you will be the leaders of tomorrow.
Nothing, nothing could be more important in the area of scholarship than this.
But actually there is a bit more to it even than that
and that is that understanding the natural sciences;
understanding the processes that brought us here;
understanding the sequences of plants;
of flowers that open in the meadow in a spring;
understanding what it is that makes a butterfly
fly 2,000 miles from Britain to North America in 24 hours.
Those things bring joy and resonance and delight to our lives.
Understanding them enhances our lives.
Understanding the natural sciences will give you joy
for the rest of your lives.
It's brought great joy to me.
I've been very lucky in my life
in becoming involved with the unit just down the road,
the BBC's Natural History Unit,
the leader in the world of broadcasting of natural history programming.
Very, very lucky for me
and I'm proud to be a freeman of this great city
and also to hold an honorary degree from this very, very distinguished university.
And so it gives me enormous pleasure
to open this great building
which I truly believe will not only give you and its graduates great pleasure
for the rest of your lives
but is important in the great problems and difficulties
that the world is going to face in your generation.
Thank you very much indeed
I now have huge pleasure and privilege
in declaring this building open.
[APPLAUSE]
