Now, this is the definition of a renaissance man.
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He’s sexy, hard-working, can act his pants off, definitely has a special way with the ladies and he’s not afraid to bust some serious moves in public, as demonstrated at Coachella this year. Now, Leonardo DiCaprio is taking his passion for helping the environment and making it a full-time job with the United Nations.
UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, announced in a news conference on Tuesday that DiCaprio has been named a UN Messenger of Peace, according to the Associated Press via ABC News, a role in which he will focus on climate change issues.
“His global stardom is the perfect match for this global challenge,” Ban said, adding that DiCaprio “is not just one of the world’s leading actors,” he also has “a longstanding commitment to environmental causes.”
DiCaprio started the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998, which is “dedicated to protecting Earth’s last wild places and implementing solutions that create a harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world,” according to Leo’s personal website. The work of the foundation and appearances on DiCaprio’s behalf that brought attention to protecting biodiversity, conservation of oceans and forests and climate change awareness are what caught the UN’s eye.
Just this past June, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation pledged to give $7 million to help preserve marine wildlife. “If we don’t do something to save our oceans now, it won’t just be the sharks and the dolphins that suffer,” DiCaprio said at the State Department’s Our Ocean Conference around the time of his pledge. “It will be all of us, including our children and our grandchildren.”
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DiCaprio tweeted his excitement to work with the UN on Tuesday. “I feel a moral obligation to speak out at this key moment in human history — it is a moment for action,” he said in another statement, according to ABC News. “How we respond to the climate crisis in the coming years will likely determine the fate of humanity and our planet.”
Honored to accept at this key moment for #Climate2014. RT @UN: Ban Ki-moon names @LeoDiCaprio Messenger of Peace http://t.co/GfOEvhlvAJ
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) September 16, 2014
DiCaprio joins fellow heavyweights, George Clooney, Stevie Wonder, Michael Douglas and Jane Goodall, who already function as UN Messengers of Peace.
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