Australian woman screams at Leonardo DiCaprio at COP26
An Australian woman has confronted Leonardo DiCaprio at the COP26 event in Glasgow, as the Oscar-winner met with Prince Charles.
Environment
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An Australian woman has confronted Hollywood mega star Leonardo DiCaprio at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, appealing for him to take on the fracking of Indigenous land as his next environmental cause.
“Leo, talk to Indigenous women in Australia about fracking on their land,” the woman, identified as Rikki Dank said in the video.
“The government just gave $50 million to frack their Country. The Australian government is fracking their land!”
Ms Dank, described as a Gudanji and Wakaja woman from Borroloola in the Northern Territory, was said to have been subtly pushed back by the actor’s security as she tried to get close.
As he approached an escalator to the main hall, she could be heard continuing to yell inaudibly in the background.
Aboriginal artist Ryhia Dank wrote on Facebook that her sister travelled to Glasgow to represent Indigenous people from Australia.
“You can hear her in this video calling on Leonardo DiCaprio to speak to Indigenous women about fracking on Country in Australia, let’s hope he heard her,” the artist wrote.
“I am so incredibly proud my sister took time out of her life and business to travel from Dubai to Glasgow to represent us well done smelly.”
WHEN LEO MET CHARLES
It came as DiCaprio met with Prince Charles and fashion designer Stella McCartney at the summit.
The trio looked chummy as they spoke at the the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum to look on at a fashion installation created by the designer who is also the daughter of Beatles legend, Paul McCartney.
Like the royal, DiCaprio is a long time environmental campaigner and describes himself as an “actor and environmentalist”.
Earlier, the Oscar-winner, who is a United Nations climate change representative, shunned a private jet and instead arrived in Glasgow for the COP26 summit on a commercial flight.
DiCaprio wore a mask, suit and sported dark sunglasses as he arrived at the Glasgow SEC Centre.
Other attendees including billionaire Jeff Bezos have been criticised for travelling to the event via private plane.
DiCaprio attended the Kew Carbon Garden exhibit, in support of a campaign to protect the Ebo Forest of Cameroon from logging, and is expected to speak at other events held during the climate change conference.
DiCaprio, 46, attended an event with other environmentalists at The Engine Works venue in Glasgow’s Maryhill district.
He was seen at the COP26 BlueZone at the SEC campus, surrounded by security guards.
DiCaprio posed with Emmy-nominated producer Paul Goodenough, who founded the charity Rewriting Extinction, clutching a copy of The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World.
The actor is a long-time climate change activist and launched The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation – described as dedicated to the long-term health and wellbeing of all Earth’s inhabitant – in 1998.
DiCaprio urged world leaders “to take crucial climate action” during COP26, tweeting: “I join @antonioguterres in urging leaders at #COP26 to take crucial #ClimateAction, safeguard our future, and save humanity. Now is the time for ambition, solidarity, and action. @UN”.
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I join @antonioguterres in urging leaders at #COP26 to take crucial #ClimateAction, safeguard our future, and save humanity. Now is the time for ambition, solidarity, and action. @UNhttps://t.co/zruhUoJguvpic.twitter.com/PzputmEjVs
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) November 1, 2021
Originally published as Australian woman screams at Leonardo DiCaprio at COP26
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