Emma Thompson slams Tony Abbott over climate change

British actress Emma Thompson has urged the Australian prime minister to act on climate change.

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(Twitter: Greenpeace)

British actress Emma Thompson has urged the Australian prime minister to act on climate change while on a Greenpeace trip to the Arctic.

The two-time Oscar winner was visiting the Smeerenburg glacier on north west Spitsbergen when she held up a sign reading: "Tony Abbott Climate Change Is Real I'm Standing On It!".

Thompson has spoken out about what she describes as a "culture of guilt" surrounding the issue of global warming.

She has encouraged people to pressure their local politicians to act on climate change.

"Know that you have power and you can make your government listen," Thompson said in a Greenpeace statement on Friday.

"Bear in mind that politicians often lose sight of issues that aren't in front of them all the time.

"So we all need to be bold.

"If tens of millions of us wrote to our leaders demanding action on the Arctic and climate change, well - that could change everything."
Greenpeace said Thompson was on the organisation's ship Esperanza with Canadian actress Michelle Thrush, best known for her role as Gail Stone in Blackstone, and her 14-year-old daughter.

Thompson starred as author P L Travers in Saving Mr. Banks last year and is widely known for her role as Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (1995).

Her other movie credits include the Harry Potter films, Primary Colours and Love Actually.


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Source: AAP


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