Actress Mélanie Laurent, Kofi Annan’s ‘climate justice’ ambassador and one of the stars in the latest Quentin Tarantino’s movie Inglorious Basterds, has joined forces with Greenpeace to raise awareness about the state of the world’s forests.
The French actress is currently in Indonesia’s tropical forest, Semenanjung Kampar in the Riau Province to raise awareness about the role of the world’s forests in fighting climate change prior to the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit in December.
"Forest destruction is one of the main causes of climate change. That is why I came here to the frontline of forest destruction with Greenpeace, to call on world leaders to end deforestation both here and around the globe. It is key to preventing a climate catastrophe," said Mélanie Laurent.
“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,” added Laurent in a Monsters and Critics’ interview.
International demand for palm oil used to make chocolate bars, toothpaste, biofuels and cosmetics— has driven the destruction of more than 74 million hectares of Indonesia’s rainforest since 1950 (an area larger than the size of France). According to the latest figures, Indonesia has one of the fastest rates of forest destruction - making it the third largest climate polluter (after China and the US).
Greenpeace estimates that deforestation is responsible for one fifth of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Visit: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/
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