Actor Dicaprio Says Climate Action Is U.S.'s 'Biggest Economic Opportunity'

Tackling climate change is the "biggest economic opportunity" in the history of the United States, no matter who holds political office, said Hollywood star and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio.

"There are a few, very prominent people that still deny the overwhelming conclusions of the world's scientists that climate change is largely human-caused and needs immediate urgent attention," he told a U.N. awards ceremony on Friday evening.

But "the truth" about climate change has spread like "wildfire", he added.

DiCaprio's comments, as he received a prize for his work as a global citizen, did not refer to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump by name but were a thinly-veiled reference to his views and climate-skeptic cabinet members with oil industry ties.
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"In less than 100 years of our pollution-based prosperity, we humans have put our entire existence in jeopardy," warned DiCaprio, who released his own documentary Before the Flood on the impacts of global warming two months ago.
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"To those who may be discouraged by nay-sayers, let me remind you, the environmental awakening is all over the world and the progress we have made so far ... has always been because of people, not governments," DiCaprio told the United Nations Correspondents Association event in downtown New York.

DiCaprio, who has worked closely with outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on climate action, congratulated the U.N. chief for "elevating the significance of climate change to one of fundamental global sustainability and peace".
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Earlier on Friday, Ban Ki-moon said acting on climate change meant "jobs, growth, cleaner air and better health", adding that leaders of top companies, governors and mayors understand this.

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