In his speeches both at the Academy Awards and at the Paris Agreement for Climate Change Signing, leonardo DiCaprio spoke about how the onus is on each of us to make a difference
We waited, what seemed like ages, to see leonardo DiCaprio lift an Oscar. And when he did, the actor spoke about the damage that we are causing to our environment which, in turn, is affecting our climate. Yes, at that time the reference was in context to The Revenant but what he said, struck a chord.
“Climate change is real, it is happening right now,” he had 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, 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. let us not take this planet for granted.”
All those who know the actor well would also know that he was designated the United Nation’s Ambassador for peace in 2014 and at the recent Paris Agreement for Climate Change Signing he spoke at length on the issue again.
He said that as an actor he pretends for a living and plays fictitious characters often solving fictitious problems. “I believe humankind has looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, happening to someone else’s planet, as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away,” he said.
Pulling focus to the undeniable climate changes he reminded us of how draughts are intensifying, oceans are warming and acidifying, with methane plumes rising up from beneath the ocean floor.
“We are seeing extreme weather events, increased temperatures, and the West Antarctic and Greenland ice-sheets melting at unprecedented rates, decades ahead of scientific projections,” he added.
During his speech he clarified that whatever he was saying was not just telling people to change their light bulbs or to buy a hybrid car. He specified how the disaster has grown beyond the choices that individuals make. “This is now about our industries, and governments around the world taking decisive, large-scale action,” he pointed out.
DiCaprio is not a scientist and he does not need to be one because the world’s scientific community has spoken, and they have given us our prognosis, if we do not act together, we will surely perish.
“Now is our moment for action,” he said, “We need to put a pricetag on carbon emissions, and eliminate government subsidies for coal, gas, and oil companies. We need to end the free ride that industrial polluters have been given in the name of a free-market economy, they don’t deserve our tax dollars, they deserve our scrutiny. For the economy itself will die if our ecosystems collapse.”
Th speech that he delivered also highlighted the bright side of the coin — that renewable energy is not only achievable but good economic policy. New research shows that by 2050 clean, renewable energy could supply 100 per cent of the world’s energy needs using existing technologies, and it would create millions of jobs.
He stressed, “This is not a partisan debate; it is a human one. Clean air and water, and a livable climate are inalienable human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is our moral obligation — if, admittedly, a daunting one.”
We only get one planet. Humankind must become accountable on a massive scale for the wanton destruction of our collective home. Protecting our future on this planet depends on the conscious evolution of our species.
“This is the most urgent of times,” he said and addressing the delegates and ‘leaders of the world’, added, “I pretend for a living but you do not. It’s YOUR turn, the time to answer the greatest challenge of our existence on this planet.”