Leonardo DiCaprio has awarded $20 million in grants through his environmental foundation.

The Academy Award-winning actor – who founded The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 – has announced that the eye-watering sum is to be spread across more than 100 organisations that are committed to environmental sustainability.

Speaking at a climate change conference at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, on Tuesday (19.09.17), DiCaprio said: “We are proud to support the work of over 100 organisations at home and abroad.

“These grantees are active on the ground, protecting our oceans, forests and endangered species for future generations, and tackling the urgent, existential challenges of climate change.”

The long-time environmentalist observed that investments in these organisations can help to build towards a “brighter future for all of us”.

The Hollywood star explained: “There exists today many proven technologies in renewable energy, clean transportation, and sustainable agriculture, that we can begin to build a brighter future for all of us.

“Our challenge is to find new ways to power our lives, employ millions of people and turn every individual into an advocate for clean air and drinkable water. We must demand that politicians accept climate science and make bold commitments before it is too late.”

DiCaprio, 42, also spoke out on the issue of climate change after he collected his Best Actor Oscar for his performance in ‘The Revenant’.

Appearing at the ceremony in 2016, he said: “Making ‘The Revenant’ was about man’s relationship to the natural world, the world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in reported history – our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow.

“Climate change is real. It is happening right now. It’s the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.”