Leonardo DiCaprio forms environmental alliance to tackle climate change

NEW YORK: Leonardo DiCaprio is joining with billionaire investors and philanthropists Laurene Powell Jobs and Brian Sheth to create a new nonprofit environmental powerhouse charged with tackling climate change and the loss of biodiversity.

The new organization, Earth Alliance, “will work globally to protect ecosystems and wildlife, ensure climate justice, support renewable energy and secure indigenous rights to the benefit of all life on Earth,” according to a statement.

Earth Alliance said Tuesday it will provide grants, educational opportunities and fund campaigns and films, as well as work with grassroots organizations and individuals in places most affected by biodiversity loss and climate change.

In the statement, DiCaprio called Earth Alliance a “new larger, nimble platform that shares resources and expertise while identifying the best programs to drive real change around the planet.”

DiCaprio has long championed environmentalism, with his eco-focused Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation giving out $100 million in grants for everything from lion recovery and mangrove restoration to the defense of indigenous rights and better access to affordable solar energy. His foundation will be folded into Earth Alliance.

Brian Sheth, the co-founder and president of private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, is the board chair of Global Wildlife Conservation and founded The Sheth Sangreal Foundation with his wife to support environmental and educational initiatives. The Sheth Sangreal Foundation will fund operational and administrative costs of Earth Alliance.

Powell Jobs, widow of former Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, is a philanthropist and entrepreneur and president of the Emerson Collective, a social impact organization.