You recently made a film with Cafod, the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development, to raise awareness about climate change. How did that come about?
I’ve worked with Cafod for a number of years as an ambassador, and six years ago I travelled to northern Kenya to see the effects of climate change in the communities there. It was just mile after mile of complete devastation. There were just clouds of orange dust, and we went through village after village and all we saw was dead cattle and dead goats covered in orange dust. Because the entire economy is based on trading cattle it was almost like the equivalent of a stock market crash. There was nothing to trade. And so no money. It was very shocking and humbling. Those people had lived on that land for centuries. Generations had lived there and passed on their traditions and now it was uninhabitable. And it had happened almost overnight.
Was there a moment in particular that awoke you to the reality of climate change?
It was that trip to Kenya. It was just a very stark realisation of the effects of climate change. It made me realise how quickly it’s happening. And at such extreme levels.
What was the objective of the latest film?
It was a wonderful campaign that was shot by Ridley Scott and there were people talking about what we might lose with climate change. What we’d miss most. For me, I remember going to Barbados last year with my mother which is where she’s originally from. And she said: “It never used to be this hot.” And that idea that in the future my kids wouldn’t even be able to sit out in the sun in Barbados, where their grandmother came from, struck me as a very sad loss.
Do you think that in Britain, one of the difficulties in raising awareness around climate change is that people don’t feel the personal impact of it yet?
Yes, definitely. Everyone around the world is experiencing some kind of extreme weather. And the march we had this year was one of the largest we’ve had in this country so people are realising. But yes, making it into a personal issue, that means something to all of us, seems very important because it’s something that’s going to affect not just us but generations to come.
Is there an aspect you find especially alarming?
I’m in America at the moment and here there are still huge lobbies of people who just refuse to accept it. That scares me. Particularly since many of them are very powerful industry lobbies. We’re shielded from it in our first-world countries. Water just comes out of the tap. It’s only when you go to places like Kenya where I’d walk into the hotel at the end of the day, covered head to toe in dust, desperate for a shower and be given a single bucket of water that you begin to realise that those luxuries will be taken from us if we’re not careful. And we’re going there quicker than we think.
If you had one killer argument to convince people of the impact of climate change, what would it be?
I would take them on exactly the same journey that I did and get them to speak to the same people and would just say: “Listen to them.” There were guides who were pushing 80 who’d lived there all their lives saying: “We cannot live on this land any more.”
You’re a supporter of the Labour party. Have you been somewhat underwhelmed by the political response to climate change?
Well, we have actually got some pledges from David Cameron and Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg. And there’s going to be another mass gathering in June which is going to be huge. And it’s another chance to remind our politicians that this is a subject people care about. I think it’s important that people of each country stand up and really demand this of their leaders ahead of the next summit in December.
Have you changed your own behaviour?
Yes, definitely. Even simple things like not leaving the tap running when I’m brushing my teeth. I’m always going on at my kids about that. And turning off the lights when you walk out of a room.
You’ve been spending a lot of time in the US filming. Do you find there is a difference in people’s attitudes there from back in Europe?
I don’t want to make any wild generalisations, but there’s air conditioning running 24/7 in these places. It’s a hot country in places so it’s understandable … But I think it’s going to be very difficult to change people’s attitudes here because people are just so used to getting what they want.
How has Hollywood responded to it? Are we still waiting for the great climate change movie?
There have been some very striking images of a post-apocalyptic world where the Statue of Liberty is underwater and so on. But you’ve only got two hours and it’s a very difficult to tell the climate change story because it’s happening slowly and incrementally and in communities far from our own. It’s a difficult one for Hollywood.
Is it tricky being a celebrity to talk about climate change? Sting, for example, got accused of hypocrisy when he spoke out about it and it then transpired he’d taken something like five trips on his private jet in the last week?
Yeah, it’s not an easy issue. My life has gone crazy since doing Homeland. I’m forever on a plane. And I do think about it. But I think you just have to offset as much as you can and try your best. I don’t think any of us is going to walk away completely clean having lived 100% ethically clean lives. We just have to do what we can, where we can, and shout as loud as we can.
Do you think it’s almost as if we, in the west, are still acting as imperial powers? We have our cars and air conditioners or whatever, and the price for these is being paid by the least privileged people on the planet?
Yes. I’ve seen the impact on one of these tremendously poor communities. And I’m standing here talking to you in Los Angeles outside shops who are running their air conditioners 24/7. When we see pictures of children starving because of famine, we all jumped in to help and mobilised and did something because we felt morally responsible. Climate change is having a similar effect on certain communities and maybe the challenge is to make this something that carries as much moral weight as that.
