Summary
- Leonardo DiCaprio is a dedicated and vocal environmental activist, having funneled millions of dollars into conservation efforts and using his platform to advocate for climate change action.
- Despite his activism, DiCaprio has faced backlash for his lavish vacations on multi-million-dollar superyachts and excessive private plane travel, raising questions about the consistency of his environmental principles.
- Fans are struggling to reconcile DiCaprio's strong stance against carbon emissions and support for a sustainable economy with his own luxurious and carbon-intensive lifestyle.
Leonardo DiCaprio, one of Hollywood’s most revered leading men, is known for many things; one of which is being a particularly vocal environmental activist. The now 48-year-old has funneled huge chunks of his massive $300 million net worth into environmental conservation efforts over the years, proving that his activism goes beyond mere words.
Ironically, DiCaprio recently found himself embroiled in a wave of controversy after snapshots of him vacationing in a multi-million-dollar superyacht started making rounds on the internet. But this isn’t the first time the Don’t Look Up star has been caught on the wrong side of the climate change debate.
The now 48-year-old’s work-hard-party-hard lifestyle has seen him jet-set to various exclusive locales around the globe, often in luxurious fuel-guzzling private planes. With such sharp contrasts between his lifestyle and ideologies, one question remains; Is DiCaprio an environmental champion or an eco-hypocrite?
Leonardo DiCaprio Is An Avid Environmental Activist
Aside from being one of Hollywood’s most bankable movie stars, and dating well below his age, Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio has made a name for himself as one of the most dedicated and vocal environmental activists in Hollywood.
The Titanic star’s climate change crusade first started in 1998, when he launched the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which prior to its 2019 merger with Emmerson Collective and Global Wildlife Conservation to form Earth Alliance, had funneled over $100 million in grant funding to global projects aimed at averting climate change and biodiversity loss.
Apart from doting out large chunks of his net worth to the climate change crusade, DiCaprio has also used his platform to advocate for environmental conservation, with a Buzzfeed article from 2022 tallying at least 17 times the acclaimed actor has publicly spoken out about climate change.
As a testament to his dedication to averting a climate change catastrophe, DiCaprio was designated a UN Messenger of Peace in 2014; earning the rare privilege to address world leaders at the annual United Nations Climate Summit.
“Every week, we’re seeing new and undeniable climate events, evidence that accelerated climate change is here right now," he said at the time. "Droughts are intensifying, our oceans are acidifying with methane plumes rising up from the ocean floor. We are seeing extreme weather events, and the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets melting at unprecedented rates, decades ahead of scientific projections."
The now 48-year-old even managed to work a call to action against climate change into his Oscar acceptance speech at the 2016 Academy Awards. “Climate change is real, it is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating,” he said.
“We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations, but who speak for all of humanity, for the Indigenous peoples of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people who will be most affected by this, for our children's children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.”
Leonardo DiCaprio Faced Backlash For Vacationing In A Superyacht
Despite being an avid environmental activist, Leonardo DiCaprio doesn't exactly engage in environmentally conscious pastimes. The now 48-year-old recently found himself making waves on the internet as snapshots of his lavish vacation in the picturesque Italian island of Ibiza aboard a multi-million-dollar superyacht surfaced. And that's not all! Just a week earlier, he was spotted alongside Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire, cruising in style on yet another yacht in the glamorous Saint-Tropez.
But Leonardo's jet-setting adventures didn't end there. Two weeks before his South of France trip, the now 48-year-old was caught on camera enjoying a family getaway along the stunning Amalfi Coast. And as if that wasn't enough, back in May, the Titanic star was seen basking in the sun on yet another luxurious superyacht; this time off the coast of Sardinia, Italy.
The Titanic star's superyacht getaways have become a hot topic, igniting debates on the harmony between ideology and lifestyle, according to The Daily Mail. For many, these lavish vacations cast a grim shadow over DiCaprio's fervent advocacy against carbon emissions, raising questions about the consistency of his environmental principles.
Leonardo DiCaprio Has Come Under Fire For Being An Eco Hypocrite In The Past
Surprisingly, the grandiose summer vacation isn’t the first of DiCaprio’s lavish trips to ignite controversy. Back in 2022, the Titanic star took a luxurious vacation to St. Barts aboard a $121 million superyacht, which, according to Mirror UK, can emit as much carbon as an average car in a year by sailing just seven miles.
Aside from lounging in superyachts, DiCaprio has also faced backlash for his penchant for traveling in luxurious private jets. Back in 2016, the Titanic star embarked on an 8000-mile trip from Europe to New York in a private jet, all in the name of accepting an award for environmental activism; an irony that did not go unnoticed.
In addition, according to Mirror UK, the Don’t Look Up star has racked up over 12,000 miles of air travel jet-setting between the US, London, Milan, and Paris in private planes over recent months; a startling figure considering that flying private results in a significantly higher carbon footprint than flying commercial.
As things stand, fans are finding it hard to reconcile the environmentally conscious UN Peace Ambassador who, while attending the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit said, “We need to put a price tag on carbon emissions and eliminate government subsidies for oil, coal, and gas companies. We need to end the free ride that industrial polluters have been given in the name of a free-market economy. They do not deserve our tax dollars, they deserve our scrutiny. For the economy itself will die if our ecosystems collapse," with the multi-millionaire who routinely lounges in fuel-guzzling superyachts and travels thousands of miles in private planes.
