Leonardo DiCaprio goes to COP26

Leonardo DiCaprio was today revealed as the latest American A-lister and eco-activist to arrive in Scotland for COP26 but appears to have shunned a private jet to get there after previous heavy criticism about his heavy carbon footprint.

The megastar, 46, who described himself on social media as an ‘actor and environmentalist’, was mobbed as he arrived at the Glasgow SEC Centre at around Midday.

He was swept in by police and bodyguards just as US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared together at an event where they shared their vision for a ‘Build Back Better World’ and the need to invest trillions in fighting climate change and creating millions of green jobs.

Wearing a blue mask and smart suit, Leo, a good friend of Greta Thunberg, was flanked by security through big crowds as he entered the conference centre having reportedly flying into Edinburgh via London on commercial planes before heading to Scotland’s largest city yesterday. 

Mr DiCaprio flew in after he was spotted celebrating Halloween in LA and then holidaying in Hawaii for the week before that. 

His decision to shun a private jet came after he was called a eco-hypocrite in the past for his use of VIP planes. In 2016 it emerged the Oscar-winner flew 8,000 miles from France to New York and back to accept an award on climate change. 

The Wolf of Wall Street actor first popped up last night at a fringe event hosted by environmentalists at The Engine Works venue in Glasgow’s Maryhill district, in the north of the city. Hours earlier Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates arrived for the UN-run event by private jet, after parting in Italy for Mr Gates’ birthday.

Leo had posed with Emmy nominated writer and producer Paul Goodenough and held a copy of his new climate change comic: ‘The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World’.

Mr Goodenough shared a picture of them together with the caption: ‘What a hero’, and told his Instagram followers: ‘He was wonderful and we chatted for ages despite everyone wanting a piece of him’. 

Leo wore sunglasses and was flanked by security as fans top pictures of him entering the United Nations Climate Change Conference today

Leonardo DiCaprio in Glasgow at a COP26 fringe event with Emmy nominated writer and producer Paul Goodenough, holding his new environmental comic book

Mr DiCaprio attended COP25 in Madrid in 2019 where he met Greta Thunberg, calling the Swedish teenager the ‘leader of our time’ and revealing they had ‘made a commitment to support one another’. 

The friends are expected to meet in Glasgow this week, if they haven’t already.  

At COP25 he gave a speech on the plight of indigenous people in the Brazilian rain forest, upsetting the country’s president Jair Bolsonaro in the process.

Mr Bolsonaro reacted furiously, and accused the actor of “giving money to set the Amazon on fire”. He refused to expand on the allegations but it was understood to be a nod to the case of four volunteer firefighters arrested on allegations of starting fires to generate NGO donations. Mr DiCaprio has long supported NGOs financially.  

Dozens of world leaders, business chiefs and eco-activists faced allegations of hypocrisy yesterday for taking private jets or domestic flights to Glasgow while telling the rest of the world to cut their carbon footprint.

Culprits included billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, US President Joe Biden and the Prime Minister.

Hours after telling delegates at Cop26 that the conference ‘can and must mark the beginning of the end’ of the climate change catastrophe, Boris Johnson admitted he would fly home to London from Glasgow rather than travel by rail.

His revelation came after Mr Bezos’s £48million Gulf Stream private jet was pictured landing in Glasgow – flying in from Rome where he had discussed the climate crisis with Prince Charles. Private jets are the world’s highest carbon-emitting form of transport.

Prince Charles himself was among those who travelled by non-commercial plane after attending the G20 summit in Rome. However, a spokesman for Clarence House said the flight made use of ‘sustainable aviation fuel’.

As well as taking hundreds of carbon-polluting private flights since Sunday, VIPs will take advantage of electric vehicles – many of which will be charged by large generators which belch out nitrogen oxides because of a lack of charging provisions.

Critics said the move showed a ‘complete lack of preparedness for the wholesale switch away from fossil fuel cars that we require’.  

Mr DiCaprio looked dapper in sunglasses, a blue mask, a matching suit and a white suit as he arrived for the two week conference. He is yet to speak publicly in Scotland but is expected to give a speech

The actor, who also describes himself as an environmentalist, removed his sunglasses as he was surrounded by security

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio attends the UN Climate Change Conference. He has been a regular attendee at the events over the years

The actor flew to Scotland (left today) after enjoying a Hawaiian holiday at the end of October (right)

Mr DiCaprio hinted that he was going to attend in a series of tweets at the weekend but it was not known when he would show up

President Biden addressed the summit claiming the US ‘would lead by the power of example’ in the fight against climate change – after driving from Edinburgh to Glasgow in a 20-car motorcade.

Mr Biden arrived in Edinburgh yesterday on Air Force One, and was accompanied by three other planes and the Marine One helicopter.

On landing, an enormous motorcade including ‘the Beast’ presidential vehicle, a number of Range Rovers and Chevrolet SUVs carried the presidential party to Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus.

If all the vehicles are petrol-run, estimates show they will have pumped out 360kg of carbon over the 40-mile journey. It is estimated the entire journey for the President could generate up to 2.2million pounds of carbon.

Prince Albert of Monaco and representatives from the Bank of America also used private jets to fly to the conference, while the likes of German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron made use of official government aircraft.

It was estimated that as many as 400 private jets arrived for the conference. Conservative predictions suggest the fleet would emit 13,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in total – equivalent to the amount emitted by more than 1,600 Britons in a year. Many arrived from cities such as London, Stockholm, Rome and Brussels, which are served by commercial routes.

Pictured: A map showing Mr Bezos’ journeys on Friday in Turkey (bottom-left) and from Turkey to Glasgow on Sunday (main).  The Blue Origin founder is said to have made the 120-mile round trip journey by chopper from Gokova to the resort town of Fethiye on Friday. The jet fuel used to power helicopters emits 21.095 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon burned. Since helicopters use up approximately 10.75 miles per gallon, Bezos’ helicopter emitted some 215 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. On Sunday, he then flew the roughly 2,000 miles from Gokova

Speaking today, billionaire Mr Bezos, who earlier this year made a short journey to space in the first crewed flight of his rocket ship, New Shepard, said he had gained new perspective

Mr Bezos’ Gulf Stream has led a 400-strong parade of private jets into COP26, including scores of royals and dozens of ‘green’ CEOs – amid an extraordinary traffic jam which forced empty planes to fly 30 miles to find space to park

Last night Labour’s environment spokesman Luke Pollard said world leaders should be ‘leading by example.’

‘People have sympathy for world leaders flying in from the other side of the world but those coming domestically should be coming by train,’ he said. ‘The idea the Prime Minister will fly home from Cop26 after flying from London to Cornwall for the G7 smacks of being out-of-touch.

‘In terms of Mr Bezos, if you want to have credibility in the debate, you have to not only be decarbonising your company, you should be demonstrating your commitment with your own actions, especially when you are one of the richest people on the planet.’

Greg Archer, UK director of the Transport and Environment campaign group, said: ‘Business leaders and heads of state flying into the climate talks on private jets illustrates how totally out of touch they are with public opinion to urgently tackle the climate emergency.

‘These jets cause as much heating of the planet during a three-hour return flight than the average Brit does in a year.’

Asked why Mr Johnson was not taking the train, the PM’s official spokesman said he faced ‘significant time constraints’.

The spokesman said the jet used by the PM this week produces half the emissions of his normal official plane, partly because of the use of ‘sustainable’ jet fuel. Carbon emissions relating to the flight will be ‘offset’ through schemes such as tree planting.

The spokesman defended the sight of hundreds of private jets flying in, saying it was important for leaders to meet face to face for such important talks.