Jason Mamoa delivers powerful speech on Global Crisis of Climate Change at UN
Actor Jason Momoa delivered a powerful speech at the United Nations on Friday, addressing the global crisis of climate change. He described humanity as “a disease that is infecting our planet” and took a thinly veiled shot at President Donald Trump for pulling out of the Paris climate agreement.
The actor and ocean activist spoke up for “all island nations” at the UN, and demanded more action from delegates, listing the issues that threaten some of the world’s most beautiful places and claiming the people of the South Pacific, in particular, are suffering more, insisting they are at the “critical tipping point” of a crisis that could kill the planet.
“As a native Hawaiian born to a mother from Iowa, I have seen how one place can be oblivious to another,” he said. “The issues facing an island can feel so far removed from that place that is landlocked in the middle of our country. However, with a foothold in two worlds, I quickly began to see how a problem for one will soon become a problem for all…”.
He added: “We, the island nations and all coastal communities, are the front lines in this environmental crisis. The oceans are in a state of emergency, entire marine ecosystems are vanishing with the warming of the seas, and as the waste of the world empties into our waters, we face the devastating crisis of plastic pollution.”
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Momoa also made a point of condemning the Trump administration for walking away from the Paris Agreement in 2017.
“Three years ago in Paris, the world stood united and vowed to keep the earth below 1.5 degrees of warming,” he said. “We pledged to hold ourselves to a higher standard and to do what is right. I’m standing here today because I am ashamed that not all of our leaders have honored this agreement.”
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“Delegates, I ask you now, do we still stand in unity for this cause?” he charged. “Do you intend to honor the commitments for the betterment of mankind? Or will you continue to chase short-term profits above our children’s basic human rights to live on this earth? Change cannot come in 2050, or 2030, or even 2025. The change must come today. We can no longer afford the luxury of half-assing it as we willingly force ourselves beyond the threshold of no return.”
The actor ended his address by shouting “Ku Kia’i Mauna” to show his support for the Hawaiian activists fighting to stop the construction of a huge telescope on the sacred Mauna Kea mountain.
The Aquaman star addressed a high-level meeting concerning Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – which include the Bahamas, Barbados, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Haiti – at the UN’s headquarters in New York.
Momoa, later posted his speech on Instagram, with a caption, saying, “For those who couldn’t watch it live, watch me fumble through my very honest and direct speech. No BS.”
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