Actor Russell Crowe has used his winner's speech at the Golden Globes to raise awareness of the deadly bushfire crisis in Australia.
"Make no mistake. The tragedy unfolding in Australia is climate change-based," he said in a message read out on stage by show host Jennifer Aniston.
Crowe won the award for his portrayal of Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes in The Loudest Voice in the Room.
His comments join a wave of celebrity support for the fire response.
At least 24 people have died since the fires began in September.
The fires are a natural part of the Australian weather cycle, but have been worsened this year by hotter-than-average temperatures and a persistent drought in many areas.
Crowe is one of thousands of Australian residents whose homes have been lost or damaged by the bushfires, which are affecting every state and territory.
"We need to act based on science, move our global workforce to renewable energy and respect our planet for the unique and amazing place it is," he said in his message.
Crowe was not at the Golden Globes ceremony in Hollywood - Aniston said he had stayed at home to protect his family.
He has been posting regularly on social media since the fires began, about the damage to his home but also encouraging donations to the largely volunteer fire services.
His latest video showed his Golden Globe alongside his firefighting equipment.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Australia's capital Canberra is engulfed in smoke
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who took home two award for her Fleabag series, said she would auction off her custom-made suit to raise funds.
Actress Cate Blanchett also paid tribute at the ceremony to the largely volunteer firefighting operation, saying: "When one country is facing a climate disaster, we are all facing a climate disaster."
And Joaquin Phoenix, who won best actor in a drama for The Joker, called on Hollywood to "get unified and make some changes" on climate change.
The Golden Globe speeches are part of a surge of celebrity activism over the past week, as the scale of the crisis has become more known internationally.
Scores of actors, singers and sports stars - Australian or otherwise - have donated to help the victims of the fires or are encouraging others to do so.
Australian actress Margot Robbie shared an emotional appeal on Instagram on Monday showing pictures of her childhood to show "how beautiful our country is".
"It is so beautiful and it's really hurting right now," she said, while calling for her followers to give to various charities "to give future generations the kind of childhood I was so lucky to have".
Prominent Australian writers have also joined forces under the #AuthorsForFireys hashtag on Twitter, auctioning off personalised pieces of writing, workshops, illustrations or coaching in exchange for donations.
In the sports world, Australian cricket great Shane Warne is auctioning off his famous green Test cap to raise funds for the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund.
The highest bid is currently more than A$300,000 ($209,000; £160,000).
Several tennis players taking part in the Brisbane Open have said they will give sizeable donations - or in the case of Australian world number one Ashleigh Barty all her prize money if she wins.
Donations have also been pledged by Australian actress Nicole Kidman and her husband Keith Urban, and by the singer Pink, who said on Saturday she was "totally devastated".
Comedian Celeste Barber, who found fame through recreating celebrity Instagram pictures, launched an appeal through her account at the weekend which has already raised more than A$31m.
She shared an image of her mother-in-law's home, saying: "It's terrifying. They are scared."
Kim Kardashian-West, who has nearly 63 million followers on Twitter, tweeted a string of news articles about the fires on 3 January, followed by the message: "Climate change is real", while Selena Gomez, with more than 59 million followers on Twitter, also called for donations.
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned that the fires could burn for months.
AllAboutMeMedia on January 6th, 2020 at 05:24 UTC »
Makin money makin movies...
Fighten fires roun' the world.
ILikeNeurons on January 6th, 2020 at 04:13 UTC »
For those who don't know what it means to act on science...
It's real, it's us, it's bad, there's hope, and the science is reliable.
The question that remains now is what are we going to do about it?
The consensus among scientists and economists on carbon pricing§ to mitigate climate change is similar to the consensus among climatologists that human activity is responsible for global warming. Putting the price upstream where the fossil fuels enter the market makes it simple, easily enforceable, and bureaucratically lean. Returning the revenue as an equitable dividend offsets any regressive effects of the tax (in fact, ~60% of the public would receive more in dividend than they paid in tax) and allows for a higher carbon price (which is what matters for climate mitigation) because the public isn't willing to pay anywhere near what's needed otherwise. Enacting a border tax would protect domestic businesses from foreign producers not saddled with similar pollution taxes, and also incentivize those countries to enact their own. And a carbon tax is expected to spur innovation.
Conservative estimates are that failing to mitigate climate change will cost us 10% of GDP over 50 years, starting about now. In contrast, carbon taxes may actually boost GDP, if the revenue is returned as an equitable dividend to households (the poor tend to spend money when they've got it, which boosts economic growth) not to mention create jobs and save lives.
Taxing carbon is in each nation's own best interest (it saves lives at home) and many nations have already started, which can have knock-on effects in other countries. In poor countries, taxing carbon is progressive even before considering smart revenue uses, because only the "rich" can afford fossil fuels in the first place. We won’t wean ourselves off fossil fuels without a carbon tax, the longer we wait to take action the more expensive it will be. Each year we delay costs ~$900 billion.
It's the smart thing to do, and the IPCC report made clear pricing carbon is necessary if we want to meet our 1.5 ºC target.
Contrary to popular belief the main barrier isn't lack of public support. But we can't keep hoping others will solve this problem for us. We need to take the necessary steps to make this dream a reality:
Lobby for the change we need. Lobbying works, and you don't need a lot of money to be effective (though it does help to educate yourself on effective tactics). If you're too busy to go through the free training, sign up for text alerts to join coordinated call-in days (it works) or set yourself a monthly reminder to write a letter to your elected officials. According to NASA climatologist and climate activist Dr. James Hansen, becoming an active volunteer with Citizens' Climate Lobby is the most important thing you can do for climate change, and climatologist Dr. Michael Mann calls its Carbon Fee & Dividend policy an example of sort of visionary policy that's needed.
§ The IPCC (AR5, WGIII) Summary for Policymakers states with "high confidence" that tax-based policies are effective at decoupling GHG emissions from GDP (see p. 28). Ch. 15 has a more complete discussion. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, one of the most respected scientific bodies in the world, has also called for a carbon tax. According to IMF research, most of the $5.2 trillion in subsidies for fossil fuels come from not taxing carbon as we should. There is general agreement among economists on carbon taxes whether you consider economists with expertise in climate economics, economists with expertise in resource economics, or economists from all sectors. It is literally Econ 101. The idea won a Nobel Prize.
TL;DR: If you're not already training as a volunteer climate lobbyist, start now. Even an hour a week can make a difference. If you can do 20, all the better.
sdsanth on January 6th, 2020 at 03:59 UTC »
"Make no mistake. The tragedy unfolding in Australia is climate change-based," he said in a message read out on stage by show host Jennifer Aniston.
He won the award for his portrayal of Fox News Chief Executive Roger Ailes in The Loudest Voice in the Room.
Crowe, who lives in Australia, was not at the ceremony because of the fires.
Aniston said he had stayed at home to protect his family.