"Leonardo DiCaprio Wins First Oscar, Says 'Climate Change Is Real'"

"'Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It's the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together,' said DiCaprio, who earned best actor honors for 'The Revenant' on Sunday night."

"Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his first Oscar for his portrayal of Hugh Glass in The Revenant, and he delivered a powerful message about climate change while accepting his award on Sunday night.

'Making The Revenant was about man's relationship to the natural world, a world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow,' he said of filming The Revenant in Argentina. 'Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It's the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.'

DiCaprio continued: 'We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people who will be most affected by this. For our children's children and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed, I thank you all for this amazing award tonight.'"

Jackie Strause reports for the Hollywood Reporter February 28, 2016.