Leonardo DiCaprio announced Tuesday that his foundation will give $20 million in grants to more than 100 environmentally focused organizations.
The new grants, ranging from wildlife and habit conservation and combating climate change to the defense of indigenous rights, increase the organization’s total direct financial impact to over $80 million since 1998.
Donating $20 million to grants
Leonardo DiCaprio‘s foundation dedicated to protecting the Earth has given more than $20 million this year in grants to more than 100 organizations around the world, the actor announced Tuesday.
The star announced the grants ahead of his appearance at a climate change conference at Yale University, hosted by former Secretary of State John Kerry.
He planned to use the appearance to urge more immediate steps to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy sources.
In a speech at the Yale event, the Oscar-winning actor urged people to vote for candidates who take climate change seriously. He also asked the crowd to support companies that sell eco-friendly products.
“These facts have been presented to the world time-and-time again for decades. Quite simply, we are knowingly doing this to ourselves, to our planet and to our future, and the cost of our inaction is becoming clearer,” DiCaprio said during a Yale Climate Conference hosted by John Kerry.
“Yet with all of this evidence – the independent scientific warnings, and the mounting economic price tag – there is still an astounding level of willful ignorance and inaction from the people who should be doing the most to protect us, and every other living thing on this planet.”
DiCaprio encouraged everyone to vote in midterm elections for political candidates who believe that climate change is real and to support companies who provide climate-friendly products.
“What all politicians in every nation on earth need to know is this: we have the technology to meet 100 percent of our energy needs from clean, renewable, cost-effective sources that are available right now,” DiCaprio said.
“What is missing in some countries is government policies that set bold goals and more leadership from the private sector, to reach out and grab hold of this tremendous opportunity, to be the drivers of innovation – to invest in these clean jobs and understand the economic potential for the future.”
Six areas directly
The grants were announced in six areas. Including climate change, wildlife and landscape conservation, marine life and ocean conservation, innovative solutions, indigenous rights, and the California program.
Among nearly $3.6 million in climate, grants are support of community organizations in the United States fighting for 100 percent renewable energy, money for mitigating climate change through mangrove re-planting in Somalia and a project that backs legal action holding major corporations in the fossil fuel industry liable for the effects of pollution.
The foundation also granted about $6.4 million for wildlife and land conservation projects. That work includes lion and elephant restoration and protection, conservation research in the Brazilian Amazon and a partnership with the local Maasai community in Kenya to conserve critical wildlife and wilderness there.
California Waterkeepers, a group that helps protect the state’s coastal waters, and Ocean 5, which establishes marine reserves and combats illegal fishing in all five oceans around the globe, are among other recipients.
“This round of grants comes at a critical time,” LDF CEO Terry Tamminen said.
“With a lack of political leadership and continued evidence that climate change is growing worse with record-breaking heatwaves and storms, we believe we need to do as much as we can now before it is too late.”
Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation
Since 1998, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has given $80 million in grants.
About $3.6 million of the grants will be given to community organizations in the U.S. fighting for 100 percent renewable energy and money for mitigating climate change through mangrove replanting in Somalia.
The foundation also granted about $6.4 million for wildlife and land preservation projects. The work includes lion and elephant restoration and protection.
Other recipients include California Waterkeepers, a group that helps protect the state’s coastal waters, and Ocean 5, which establishes marine reserves and combats illegal fishing in the world’s oceans.
More recently the star joined Harvey’s relief efforts and pledged monetary assistance to the victims.
The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has pledged $1 million as the inaugural donation to the newly established United Way Harvey Recovery Fund.
United Way Worldwide, the largest privately funded non-profit, said that all proceeds of the Harvey Recovery Fund would go directly to recovery efforts. The organization said it expects this work to continue for years.
“We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation,” said United Way Worldwide president and CEO Brian Gallagher.
“Responding to Hurricane Harvey requires the best of all of us — and that’s what this gift represents.”
“We hope others will step up and support the United Way and other organizations,” said Terry Tamminen, CEO of the foundation.
Despite the new grants, DiCaprio has faced criticism for not being as green as he claims. Last year the actor reportedly took a private jet 8,000 miles in order to collect an environmental award from Cannes to New York and then back to France. That flight emitted 55 tons of carbon dioxide.
Source: Mashable