Leonardo DiCaprio, President Obama Talk Climate Change At SXSL Festival In The White House


Leonardo DiCaprio and United States President Barack Obama are set to talk about ways to fight climate change in a publicized discussion at the White House in October.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Leonardo DiCaprio and Obama will be sitting down to discuss climate change with climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe this coming Monday, October 3.

At the meeting which will be held during the inaugural South by South Lawn: A White House Festival of Ideas, Art, and Action (SXSL Festival), DiCaprio, Obama, and Hayhoe will be emphasizing “the importance of protecting the one planet we’ve got for future generations.”

Afterward, the audience will be treated to DiCaprio’s new National Geographic documentary titled Before the Flood in what is described as a “first-of-its-kind film screening.”

According to Entertainment Weekly, Before the Flood covers DiCaprio’s quest to raise awareness on the dangers of climate change since he was appointed as a U.N. Ambassador of Peace under the direction of Fisher Stevens

Monday’s event occurs several days after DiCaprio delivered a moving speech during the United Nations’ Climate Change Summit on September 23 which was covered by The Guardian.

Leonardo DiCaprio: Climate Change Champion
[Image by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]

At the time, a bearded Leonardo DiCaprio appeared before the UN leaders and Climate Change Summit attendees to shed light on the consequences of climate change.

“I’m honored 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 the streets of New York on Sunday, and the billions of others around the world who want to solve our climate crisis,” DiCaprio’s speech began per a transcript published by The Guardian.

“I believe humankind has looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, happening to someone else’s planet, as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away.”

Likening the situation to his job as an actor, DiCaprio urged the attendees of the Summit to act on the issue with urgency as it poses a real threat to the nations of the world.

“None of this is rhetoric, and none of it is hysteria. It is fact. The scientific community knows it, Industry and governments know it, even the United States military knows it,” he added.

“The people made their voices heard on Sunday around the world and the momentum will not stop. And now it’s YOUR turn, the time to answer the greatest challenge of our existence on this planet… is now.”

Before last Tuesday, DiCaprio has already been known to be a champion of climate change. In fact, The Guardian tagged him as one of the world’s top climate change advocates.

According to the outlet, the Oscar-winning actor has been a climate champion even before he was given roles and documentaries to prove and publicize his advocacy.

Believe it or not, the Revenant star has steadily contributed to the United Nations climate negotiations in order to spread public awareness on climate change and its consequences and even protect coral reefs and endangered tigers through the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

He also attended events calling for action against climate change since 2014 including the Davos economic forum as well as Paris climate negotiations in December 2015.

Aside from that, he made the issue the centerpiece of his acceptance speech during the 2016 Academy Awards where he won his first-ever Oscars during his entire career as an actor.

Now, Leonardo DiCaprio will be joining President Barack Obama in the White House to further his contribution to the battle against climate change through spreading information and knowledge on the dangers of the worldwide phenomenon.

[[Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images]

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