One of the co-founders of The Green Party has said it is “too late” to save the environment as the movement marks 50 years.

Michael Benfield said the party has succeeded in “helping to educate the mass of politics,” but failed in “dealing with the battle for environmental survival”.

He said he is afraid he has become somewhat of a doomsayer and that it is too late. The battle for the world’s environmental survival is at this moment lost, he also said.

He shared his thoughts at a special event to mark the party’s 50 years in existence which has seen them win council elections and take a seat at Parliament.

The Green Party has its origins within the People Party, which was founded in 1973, and took its current name in the 1980s with the primary aim of environmental campaigning.

The climate and nature crises are more critical than ever, and it feels that what falls upon the shoulders of the Green Party is a most extraordinary responsibility but an awesome opportunity as well.