Obama launches festival of 'ideas art and action'

By Euronews

Published on 04/10/2016 - 04:49

Barack Obama and actor Leonardo DiCaprio make climate change pleas at launch of 'South by South Lawn' festival at the White House

President Barack Obama and actor-activist Leonardo DiCaprio have launched the first ever South by South Lawn event at the White House. It’s aim is to bring together creators, innovators, and organisers to improve the lives of others.
DiCaprio whose climate change film “Before the Flood” was later screened, slammed ‘non believers’.

“The scientific consensus is in and the argument is now over. If you do not believe in climate change you do not believe in facts or in science or empirical truths and therefore, in my humble opinion, should not be allowed to hold public office,” said DiCaprio in a thinly veiled criticism of the Republican presidential candidate Donald
Trump.

Barack Obama, Leonardo DiCaprio urge action on climate change at South by South Lawn https://t.co/tCsccKti1K
— Global News Toronto (@globalnewsto) October 4, 2016

Obama also said that climate issues are a global problem with serious consequences:

“Well you’ve got potentially a billion people who are dependent on a certain pattern of rains, the Himalayas getting a certain amount of snow pack etc. And, those folks’ margin of error is so thin that you might end up seeing migrations of hundreds of millions of people which invariably will create significant conflict,” Obama said.