At the opening of Climate Summit 2014

The actor opens with a 4 minute appeal that starts like this:

As an actor, I pretend for a living. I play fictitious characters, often solving fictitious problems,”DiCaprio continued. “I believe that mankind has looked at climate change in that same way — as if it were a fiction, as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away.”

Read more Leonardo DiCaprio Warns of “Catastrophic” Pollution

DiCaprio, one of the most outspoken celebrities on the issue of climate change, framed the topic in unsparing terms. “To be clear, this is not about just telling people to change their light bulbs or to buy a hybrid car; this disaster has grown beyond the choices that individuals make. This is now about our industries and our governments around the world taking decisive and large-scale action,” he said. Source: Hollywood report. 

Climate change has been rammed back into the world’s collective conscience this week with the UN-organised summit in New York.

The conference, designed to work towards a concrete deal at a summit in Paris next year, agreed a number of pledges.

BARACK OBAMA

Barack Obama is a must-see because of the delivery and content of his speech. But it’s also down to the US being one of the world’s biggest polluters and a crucial player in persuading other nations to take their fair share of climate change responsibility.

He said: “There’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other. That is the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate.”

Lesson plan

Watch the two videos below and make a statement about this issue, urging your own government to act. What are the most convincing arguments in your opinion?