Los Angeles – Climate change may be the challenge
of our time, but when it comes to rallying the global public to the cause, a
Hollywood star will always trump a treaty or summit.
Environmental threats loom large in many an
American blockbuster, as in this year's "Mad Max" about the fight for
access to water, or "Interstellar," featuring a group of astronauts
who leave an Earth made uninhabitable by plagues and sandstorms to seek a new
planet.
A star-studded documentary series called
"Years of Living Dangerously," co-produced by James Cameron, tackles
climate change and the melting of the polar ice caps head-on, with a second
season slated for next year.
But for much of the glitterati, the battle is
fought off screen, calling for action on social media, demonstrating in the
street or lending their faces to ad campaigns.
Tinseltown's unofficial chief ambassador on climate
is Leonardo DiCaprio, who in 2014 was named a UN messenger of peace.
Last year he opened a summit on climate change at
the United Nations with a stark warning: "None of it is hysteria. It is a
fact."
"This is not a partisan debate. It is a human
one. It is our moral obligation – if, admittedly, a daunting one," added
the star of "Titanic" and "The Wolf of Wall Street."
DiCaprio, who will attend the COP21 climate change
talks in Paris next month, has been crusading on global warming since 1998,
when he founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which is involved in 78
projects and raised $40m at its last event.
His 2007 documentary "The 11th Hour"
blares his message loud and clear: deforestation and pollution are destroying
the ecosystems that guarantee the survival of species.
DiCaprio is far from alone in the fight.
Matt Damon has led a high-profile campaign against
deforestation and water pollution, while Robert Redford has lobbied against
coal power and Harrison Ford has become a champion for biodiversity.
"Terminator" star Arnold Schwarzenegger
took pioneering action in favour of the environment as governor of California,
including pushing for less-polluting cars.
And Morgan Freeman, Susan Sarandon, Alec Baldwin
and Mark Ruffalo wrote directly to President Barack Obama, asking him to lead a
green energy revolution.
More stars, fewer
suits
Star power has undeniably raised the profile of the
campaign to save the planet, but how much impact does it really have on public
attitudes?
The answer is quite a lot, according to Jon
Christensen, a senior fellow at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and
Sustainability.
Poor communication is one of the main problems when
it comes to raising awareness of global warming, he said.
"The most effective messages about climate
change are stories that people can relate to their own lives and show people
that there are positive ways that they can take action," he said.
One good example was when Harrison Ford, Calista
Flockhart and Cameron Diaz made environmentally friendly cars popular a decade
ago by showing up at the Oscars in a Toyota hybrid car.
"That's a step in the right direction,"
added Christensen.
Brad Pitt has also tried to set an example by using
environmentally sustainable materials to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane
Katrina in 2005.
"You can look at it as discouraging" that
organisations rely on famous people, said Maher Nasser, director of the
Outreach Division, Department of Public Information of the UN.
"But it's reinforcing. It's reaching new
audiences that hopefully become more engaged."
From script to
reality?
Movies and television, in depicting worst-case
environmental scenarios, also play a role in shaping public consciousness of
the issues at stake.
"You can actually put the environment into so
many types of stories," said the actress and producer Kristin Davis, of
"Sex and the City" fame.
"The Day After Tomorrow" (2004) shows the
world entering a new ice age because of global warming; in
"Waterworld" (1995) polar ice caps melt, provoking a maritime crisis.
And Cameron's 2009 animation blockbuster
"Avatar" – whose plot dwells on energy problems on Earth in the year
2154 – was a milestone in that respect.
Besides winning three Oscars, it became the biggest
box office hit in history, with $2.8bn in revenue.
Its director is also waging a personal – and
well-publicised – campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by removing meat
and dairy products from his diet.
Can Hollywood do more? Yes, always, said the
actress Andie MacDowell.
"Actors and celebrities have to take the
opportunity to use the media to spread green ideas. It's a great way to teach
people and encourage people," she said.
