Ecorazzi

Mélanie Laurent, star of Inglorious Basterds and Kofi Annan’s ‘climate justice’ ambassador, has joined Greenpeace in the heart of the Indonesian rainforest to speak out against deforestation. The actress is on location until today meeting with Greenpeace activists and local communities at Greenpeace’s ‘Climate Defenders’ Camp’ on the threatened Kampar Peninsula.

“I believe that climate change is the greatest threat humanity has ever faced,” she said. “When I found out that the destruction of our planet’s forests is one of the main causes I called Greenpeace and asked if I could join them at their Climate Defenders Camp in Indonesia and to see the situation for myself.”

“I’m shocked by the scale of the devastation here in Indonesia. As far as the eye can see, the forest has been carved up and abandoned or replaced with lifeless plantations. This is a climate catastrophe in the making. We will face mass species extinction, floods, droughts and famine in our lifetimes unless we end deforestation here and around the globe.”

“I’m joining the millions people who are calling on world leaders to take much tougher action over the next five weeks to pull us back from the brink of a climate crisis. I strongly urge them to agree to far more drastic cuts in fossil fuel emissions and to make an effective deal to end global deforestation, including the funds needed to put the deal into action.”

Much of the forest that once surrounded the Kampar Peninsula has been destroyed to make way for plantations — mainly for the production of palm oil. According to Monsters and Critics, the scale of the destruction is so great that Indonesia is the third largest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet after China and the US.

via Monsters and Critics