Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio used his Sunday night acceptance speech to press people “to stop procrastinating” when it comes to climate change, while saying those who don’t believe in global warming don’t believe in science.
“Climate change is real, it is happening right now,” the actor said at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. “It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.”
Many scientists blame the rise in greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels for raising the Earth’s temperature, leading to more severe weather, sea-level rise and drought.
DiCaprio later told reporters backstage: “The truth is this: If you do not believe in climate change, you do not believe in modern science or empirical truths.”
DiCaprio has taken on climate change as part of his long support for environmental causes. “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,” he said during his acceptance speech for winning best actor.
DiCaprio won the Oscar for his performance in the film “The Revenant,” which is about a man left for dead after a bear attack in the frozen wilderness and his struggle for survival and revenge. He said it was tough making the movie because global warming limited the amount of snow on the ground. He also made a point to note during his speech that 2015 has been named the hottest year on record.
“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,” he said. “Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow,” DiCaprio said.
He called on everyone in attendance, as well as viewers, not to “take this planet for granted.”
The publication ClimateWire reported that DiCaprio has bought the movie rights to the post-apocalyptic young-adult novel “Sandcastle Empire” because of its environmental themes. The actor said Sunday that he is also working on a climate change documentary.
