Forget the movie “The Wolf Of Wall Street,” Leonardo DiCaprio hasn’t got a bad bone in his body. In real life, he can be found raising awareness around global warming and driving his electric Tesla around town. What kind of villan has solar panels on his roof anyway?
Winning his first Oscar for best actor in “The Revenant” at the 88th Academy Awards in Hollywood yesterday, DiCaprio devoted much of his speech to the urgency of talking climate change.
“Climate change is real, and it’s happening right now,” DiCaprio said. “It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world…and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.”
DiCaprio is also one of 13 U.N. Messengers of Peace, distinguished individuals who have agreed to help focus attention on the work of the U.N. and improve the lives of billions of people everywhere. His focus area for this role is the environment, and he wants to build a more harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world. “I feel a moral obligation to speak out at this key moment in human history – it is a moment for action,” he says. “How we respond to the climate crisis in the coming years will likely determine the fate of humanity and our planet.”
“If you have do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in modern science or empirical truths and you will be on the wrong side of history,” said DiCaprio. “And we need to all join together and vote for leaders who care about the future of this civilization and the world as we know it.”