EXCLUSIVE: Leonardo DiCaprio confirmed to attend Lima UN Climate Conference
By Hillary Ojeda
Environmental activist and actor Leonardo DiCaprio invited to COP20 in Lima by Peruvian head of state.
(Photo: Leonardo DiCaprio/Facebook)
Leonardo DiCaprio will be attending COP 20, the Lima Climate Change Conference in December, diplomatic sources have told Peru this Week.
Peru this Week can reveal that the environmental activist and actor Leonardo DiCaprio will be participating in COP 20, along with other television personalities and politicians, such as Al Gore.
The 20th session of the Conference of the Parties and the 10th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, also known as COP 20/CMP 10, is being hosted by Peru this year from Dec. 1 – 12.
In late September, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala travelled to New York City to attend various meetings including the U.N. Climate Change Summit on Sept. 23. Also in attendance was DiCaprio, who today celebrates his 40th birthday.
Diplomatic sources confirmed that President Humala personally invited DiCaprio to attend the conference to be held in Lima.
It should be noted that DiCaprio has been a dedicated figure in environmental and social activism for many years. Since 1998, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has been providing grants and relief for numerous projects from protecting the endangerment of 5 species of sharks to providing sustainable access to clean water to nearly half a million people.
He has donated to causes such as the LGBT organization GLAAD, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Society, $1 million dollars to relief efforts in Haiti. Additionally, he sits on the boards of several organizations including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Global Green USA, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
In September, at the 10th Annual Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York, DiCaprio was awarded the Clinton Global Citizen Award for philanthropy. That same day, DiCaprio participated in the People’s Climate Change march in the streets of New York.
Considering his involved activist history, it is no surprise he gave a speech at the UN Climate Summit in New York.
“I am honoured to be here today. I stand before you not as an expert but as a concerned citizen, one of the 400,000 people who marched in New York on Sunday,” said DiCaprio.
He expressed his concern and gave strong, passionate speech.
“This is the most urgent of times and the most urgent of messages. I pretend for a living but you do not. The people who heard their voices made on Sunday and the momentum will not stop, but now it is your turn.”
Leonardo DiCaprio UN Messenger of Peace Speech
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