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News > Latin America

Leonardo DiCaprio Donates $3.4 Million to Ecuador

  • Leonardo DiCaprio used his acceptance speech at the World Economic Forum to slam Big Oil and corporate greed.

    Leonardo DiCaprio used his acceptance speech at the World Economic Forum to slam Big Oil and corporate greed. | Photo: Reuters

Published 22 January 2016
Opinion

The money will go to several environmental groups, including one that has worked closely with the victims of the Chevron disaster.

Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has pledged US$15 million in grants for environmental projects, US$3.4 million of which has been promised specifically to causes in Ecuador.

The U.S. actor said that the money for Ecuador will be shared between Clearwater, which has worked closely with the victims of the Chevron oil disaster, and the Ceibo Alliance, which brings together members of the Cofan, Secoya, Huaorani and Siona nationalities to protect the land, water and culture of the areas they live in.

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According to the Leonardo DiCaprio foundation website, the funding will "empower indigenous people in the Amazon” and support a "strategic collaboration between four Indigenous tribes in the region, standing together against oil and timber interests.”

A further US$3.2 million was awarded to the Rainforest Action Network and Haka to protect the Leuser Ecosystem, one of Sumatra’s last intact rainforests, and in particular to stop the “invasive and destructive practices” of the palm oil industry.

The biggest chunk of funding—US$6 million—has been pledged to Oceana and Skytruth for Global Fishing Watch, a platform that uses satellite data to monitor fishing activities.

The actor picked up a crystal award for his work on environmentalism at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday. During his acceptance speech, he announced that his foundation will look to provide financial support to worthy causes across the globe.

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In his impassioned acceptance speech, DiCaprio asked political leaders to take more action against climate change and decried those who deny it is a problem. He also insisted fossil fuels must be kept in the ground.

"We simply cannot afford to allow the corporate greed of the coal, oil and gas industries to determine the future of humanity. Those entities with a financial interest in preserving this destructive system have denied, and even covered up the evidence of our changing climate,” he said to an audience of world leaders, business chiefs and campaigners.

"Enough is enough. You know better. The world knows better. History will place the blame for this devastation squarely at their feet,” he added.

DiCaprio has been a vocal advocate of climate action and tackling corporate greed as part of the fight against the climate crisis. At a speech to delegates at the COP21 climate summit in Paris last month, DiCaprio called climate change the “most fundamental and existential threat to our species.”

WATCH: Ecuador Presses Claim Against Chevron at COP21 Meet

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