- guardian.co.uk, Monday May 21 2007 13.48 BST
'I try as often as possible to fly commercially ...' DiCaprio tries to make a difference. Photograph: Getty
As his new environmental disaster documentary screened at Cannes, Leonardo DiCaprio defended his international lifestyle and lashed out at critics of Al Gore, who last year premiered his own film on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, at the festival.
Gore, who went on the road extensively in 2006 to promote his film, including a trip to the Guardian Hay festival and Edinburgh film festival, has come under fire for his extensive air travel. There were also claims last year that the energy consumption of his own home in a month was more than twice that of an average US family in a year.
DiCaprio said: "The way he travels and the way he lives his life should not be criticised. Don't shoot the messenger.
"I've listened to these attacks on Al Gore. We're all doing the best we can. In the long term it's about instilling [environmentally friendly principles] into governments and corporations so these things are part of our everyday lives."
Speaking about his own lifestyle, DiCaprio said that he drives a hybrid car and that his home is fitted with solar panels. Asked how he travelled to Cannes, he said: "I flew commercially. I try as often as possible to fly commercially" - a reminder that, while a small but increasing number of Britons are giving up flying altogether, for the Hollywood A-lister there is a preliminary step: eschewing private jets.
The 11th Hour, which DiCaprio co-wrote and narrates, is directed by Nadia Conners and Leila Conners Petersen. It is bleaker in tone than Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, positing that since the invention of the steam engine man has ceased to live in harmony with the environment and has used Earth as a resource to be ruthlessly exploited.
Using the testimony of numerous scientists and experts, the film highlights that 54,000 species a year are becoming extinct - and warns that homo sapiens sapiens may not be far behind.
"In the US we are the ones who should be setting an example," said DiCaprio. "We are the largest democracy in the world - and also the largest polluters. If we don't take any action then how can anyone else be expected to?"
