Oscars 2020: Stars highlight climate crisis, from Joaquin Phoenix’s speech, to recycled gowns

Stars talked the talk and walked the walk at this year's Oscars ceremony

Saoirse Ronan in a custom Gucci dress made with repurposed fabric (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

The climate crisis was firmly on the agenda at this year’s Oscars ceremony.

Accepting the award for Best Actor, Joaquin Phoenix made an impassioned speech regarding social injustice and the cruelty of industrial dairy farming.

"I think we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world,” he began.

“Many of us are guilty of an egocentric world view, and we believe that we’re the centre of the universe.

“We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources,” he said.

As a committed vegan, Phoenix continued to express his views on meat-eating.

“We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakeable. Then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal,” he said.

The Joker actor concluded by stating that humans may “fear the idea of personal change”, but that we are better “when we help each other to grow”.

Phoenix also stuck by his pledge to wear the same Stella McCartney tuxedo throughout awards season to highlight the issue of waste on the red carpet.

Jane Fonda and Elizabeth Banks joined him in re-wearing existing gowns for the star-studded affair.

Other attendees did their bit to support the Red Carpet Green Dress initiative, which encourages both celebrities and brands to wear more sustainable designs.

Saoirse Ronan confirmed that the black section of her custom black and lavender Gucci gown was repurposed material from the dress she wore at the BAFTAs last week.

In a similar bid to sustainable fashion, both Kaitlyn Dever and Léa Seydoux opted for custom-made ethical gowns by Louis Vuitton.

The Booksmart star wore a red dress made from responsibly sourced silk satin and $47 platform heels by Aldo, a climate-neutral brand.

“Supporting sustainable clothing is really important,” she said, while encouraging viewers to “shop vintage”.

Kaitlyn Drever in a responsibly sourced silk satin dress (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

No Time To Die actor Léa Seydoux's black-and-white gown was made of organic silk faille and Tencel Luxe, an eco-friendly filament yarn.

Laura Dern, who took home the award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Marriage Story, touched on the climate crisis during a backstage interview.

“We have a planet to save, so I pray we can all come together to focus on something that isn’t all about politics – it’s about our home,” she said.

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist, also made a brief appearance at the ceremony in a short clip showcasing the power of documentary films.

The short preceded actor Mark Ruffalo presenting the award for Best Documentary, an accolade won by the Michelle and Barack Obama-produced American Factory, which focuses on the clash between a Chinese entrepreneur and blue-collar workers from Ohio.