When asked what feelings the phrase ‘our Earth’ stirs in him, Leonardo DiCaprio has a lot to say. “Life on Earth, in all its myriad forms and ecosystems, is what keeps us alive,” he begins. “It is our first line of defence against emerging diseases and climate chaos, and it ensures access to clean air, water and an abundance of food and medicines. If we want to live as healthy people, we need a healthy planet. It seems so simple but it is not easy. We now know so much and yet it now matters all the more to each and every one of us. Biodiversity is threatened all over the world. Recent years have shown that we are at a critical turning point for our planet and that we must choose to protect and restore wildlife and ecosystems for the sake of their health and our own. The pandemic, the devastating fires in the Amazon, in Australia, in the Congo, bigger and more frequent hurricanes, floods and other environmental crises have shown that we need to reshape our relationship with nature.”
The actor has been committed to global environmental issues such as climate change, wildlife conservation, biodiversity protection and more since he founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998. “I think climate change is the most important issue facing humanity, and if there was something I could do to make a real, solving contribution, I’d put everything in motion,” he continues, “I think a lot of the change has to come from collaborative efforts to shake up the system. And I think change has to come from the outside. You can’t rely on politicians to make the right decisions.”
There it flashes, that deep, long-standing and non-negotiable conviction to face one’s personal responsibilities. Undeniably, we humans are the main contributors to global climate change. So it seems all the more absurd that so many people think they can abdicate responsibility. Not DiCaprio. It’s obvious, of course, that someone like him, with such charisma, influence and notoriety, can command public attention. That’s important, because that’s how he gets his message through, all the way to the top of governments and international organizations. And people listen to him, take him seriously, notice and respect him. But what’s essential to all this is his personal, genuine sense of conviction based on what he has witnessed. And for this you need to understand how people feel, what they want and what makes them act.
“My father George was an incredibly important influence in my childhood,” he reflects. “My dad is one of the smartest and most well-read people. When I was a kid, I went mushroom picking in the woods with my grandma and grandpa in Germany. That feeling of incredible peace, I never experienced anything like that again. My mother is the one who shaped my moral values, and that includes, first and foremost, being grateful and respectful to all that you have. I lived in downtown LA, so I didn’t grow up in the country. I learned about the wonders of nature through movies and documentaries. It was something I always loved, and gradually, an interest in these wonders deepened in me and I began to get more involved in environmental issues. I began to speak out publicly on this issue as well, and it went on and on from there.” And this issue has no end because it concerns our very existence, right?
“The question is how we bring constructive approaches to solutions to the forefront,” he replies. “The rise of the West is based on the exploitation of resources from nature, the extermination of indigenous American tribes, the cutting down of trees and the prospecting for oil. We are destroying nature and destroying species on an unprecedented scale. I wonder how people today will look back on this time and what we will conclude. I am confident that we will evolve as a species. But there is something about human nature that is very destructive. You know, here in the United States, everybody loves money, me too. This is a capitalist country. Ultimately, through capitalism, we’ve become entangled in dependencies at the expense of natural resources that are incredibly difficult to undo. Naomi Klein once said to me, ‘There is not one thing an individual can do. The whole greenwashing movement, recycling, all this and that – that won’t be enough. It has to be a massive movement on a global scale. And it has to happen now.’ I’ve always focussed on what was important to me, and that’s why I don’t want us humans to look back at some point and say we didn’t make the right choices. I think sometimes it’s enough to look at the facts to figure out what it takes for a wake-up call to happen. It starts, as so many things do, with looking at the facts, the reality that I think everyone perceives by now. We’ve allowed that to be pushed away or passed on for quite a long time now.”
So let’s look a little less fascinated at people like DiCaprio, and instead join his ranks, take action – and do it now.
As featured in SLEEK 73 – PASSION. Available in print and digital here.