DiCaprio wins first Oscar and calls for climate action

Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar on Sunday and used his acceptance speech to address climate change.

DiCaprio won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role in The Revenant and said: “Making ‘The Revenant’ was about the relationship between man and nature… Climate change is real. It’s happening right now.”

The actor, who set up the Leonardo DiCaprio foundation in 1998 to support conservation and protection of natural resources, said that global warming is “the most urgent threat affecting our entire species.”

The star of films including Titanic, Wolf of Wall Street and The Aviator said: “We need to support leaders around the world … who speak for all of humanity, and not those focused on greed.”

DiCaprio, who had been nominated for five Oscars previously, added: “I thank you all for this amazing award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take this award for granted.”