Sir David Attenborough will be awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at next week's virtual Rose d'Or Awards ceremony.

The Rose d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award honours a television personality for their exceptional contribution to the entertainment industry and will celebrate Sir David’s 60-year career as a natural history broadcaster.

On receiving the esteemed award, Sir Attenborough said: “Television has achieved a great thing worldwide, making people everywhere aware of what’s happening to our environment. 

"If I’ve been a part of that and if this is a reward for that, well then, I thank you very much indeed. I’m most grateful.” 

Bromsgrove Advertiser: Picture: PA WirePicture: PA Wire

Sir David Attenborough’s extraordinary career has spanned black and white, colour, HD and 3D formats; his programmes have won multiple Emmys and British Academy (BAFTA) awards and his landmark series such as The Blue Planet II, Planet Earth II, Dynasties and Seven Worlds One Planet made with BBC Studios Natural History Unit have been seen by billions of people across the world.

After joining the BBC in 1952, within a couple of years he had created his acclaimed Zoo Quest series - filming wild animals in their natural habitat for the very first time. To this day, Sir David’s films continue to push the boundaries of camera technology and CGI in factual storytelling. His latest ambitious multimedia projects include both apps and virtual reality (VR) which both entertain and educate global audiences of all ages.  

Sir David joins a list of previous recipients of the Rose d’Or special awards including last year’s Lifetime Achievement winner Maren Kroymann, as well as Joanna Lumley, James Corden, Angela Lansbury and John Cleese.  

Jean Philip De Tender, EBU Media Director, said "It is fitting that in this year, of all years, the Rose d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award should go to that force of nature, Sir David Attenborough.

"We are celebrating a broadcaster of multiple talents – naturalist, activist, storyteller, writer, presenter, preserver, explorer. He has inspired audiences for decades and continues to do so.

"The expression ‘ground-breaking’ can be over-used – especially in our industry – but Sir David has changed how we view the world – and it doesn’t get more ground-breaking than that.”  

You can follow a live stream of the ceremony, hosted by comedian Nish Kumar, from 3pm this afternoon via Rosedor.com when the rest of this years' winners will be revealed.