Green Celebrities - Cate Blanchett

Green Celebrities

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett is an Oscar winning actress, best known for her roles in the blockbusters ‘Elizabeth’, ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, ‘The Aviator’ and as Hela in 'Thor: Ragnorak'.

But the Australian actress is also an avid environmental campaigner, and she has worked tirelessly for causes both in her native Australia and around the globe.

What sparked her interest in the environment?

She said that she was inspired to get involved in campaigning for the environment by former US vice president Al Gore.

He brought his Climate Project to Australia in 2006, and gave people the information they needed to feel empowered to take action to protect the environment. The idea was that they would then take this back to their local communities.

Her environmental work

Australian Conservation Foundation

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) aims to inspire people to achieve a healthy environment for themselves and for future generations. For over 40 years, they have campaigned, carried out research, they have provided education programmes, and they have worked with communities, business, and the government to protect the environment and achieve sustainability.

Cate’s work

The actress is an ambassador for the foundation. She campaigned for them in Brisbane in 2007, and she visited politicians and people in Queensland to raise awareness of climate issues.

She was also part of the online campaign at www.whoonearthcares.com, which aimed to persuade Australian people to share their climate change concerns.

Climate Institute

The climate institute contributes to scientific research on climate change, and facilitates partnerships between government, scientists, environmental organisation, and the public to address climate change issues.

Cate’s work

The actress recently bought a plot of land on the pacific island of Vanuatu, which is one of the countries that has been affected the most by global warming. An entire village had to be evacuated due to rising sea levels in 2005. Seeing the devastating effects for herself led her to campaign on behalf of the institute.

SolarAid

SolarAid works in rural areas in East and Southern Africa to install solar panels on schools, community centres and clinics, so they can tap into the sun as a source of clean and renewable energy. Just under 2% of the people in rural parts of Africa have access to electricity, so the organisation works to help these communities.

Cate's work

She is a patron of SolarAid, and in 2008, she invested in Sungevity, one of the companies that provides the solar panels for the disadvantaged African communities.

I Speak Earth

I speak earth has one main goal; to create a mandate for a climate change treaty. They want to make world leaders realised that they need to take action right away to tackle global warming.

Cate’s work

The actress went to Copenhagen to persuade world leaders to adopt eco-friendly methods of reducing carbon emissions and to become sustainable. At the top of the agenda was reducing greenhouse gases which is a huge contributor to climate change.