After winning the Best Actor Oscar for the film The Revenant, Leonardo DiCaprio took advantage of the opportunity to make a powerful statement about the urgency of combating climate change. While some may question the efficacy of stars making the pitch for climate action, DiCaprio is a man who takes environmentalism seriously. He has been consistently at the forefront of environmental advocacy from his work at the United Nations in support of a global climate agreement to his tireless efforts to protect endangered species like tigers.
Here is a transcript of DiCaprio’s climate focused remarks at the Oscars:
“And lastly I just want to say this: Making ‘The Revenant’ was about man’s relationship to the natural world. A world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow. Climate change is real, it is happening right now. 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, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this. For our children’s children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed. I thank you all for this amazing award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted. Thank you so very much.”
After the awards DiCaprio tweeted: “#climateChange action starts w/ electing leaders who’ll make brave & vital changes needed to save our planet.”
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