There are many people who are sceptical about climate change, global warming and the pollution threats to the environment. It’s something that most of the world’s 6 billion + people take for granted. The clean air and water that we have today can become a scarce resource tomorrow if we keep on contaminating our precious resources at the current rate. Australian-based LED light supplier Savewise, who manage government lighting schemes for businesses and residents have curated the following list of quotes from influencers about the importance of saving the environment.

Stephen Hawking

“I don’t think we will last another 1000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet.”

Internationally renown professor Stephen Hawking is causing a stir by claiming that humans will be extinct in the next 1000 years, partially due to their ignorance to care for the environment. The clock is ticking and the rate at which the quality of the Earth’s air, land and water is diminishing; the demise of the human race seems imminent. In USA Today, he went as far to say that the human race needs to find another planet in order for our species to survive.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

“I’ve starred in a lot of science fiction movies and let me tell you something, climate change is not science fiction. This is a battle in the real world and it is impacting us right now.”

Hollywood superstar and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has been vocal about the importance of sustainability and protecting the environment. He draws parallels between his career to aspire towards something greater. This is a belief that he feels people should share by caring for the Earth’s resources and committing towards a plan in the future that will achieve this.

He went into detail about the impact by publishing his public Facebook post, “I don’t give a *** if we agree about climate change.” In his post, Arnold cited some interesting facts, such as how 7 million people a year are dying from pollution-related illnesses and how the choices that we make now will affect our future and the livelihood of future generations.

Leonardo DiCaprio

“This is not a partisan debate; it’s a human one. Clean air and water and a livable climate are inalienble human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is our moral obligation.”

The Hollywood superstar has been vocal about the need to support sustainable efforts to combat climate change and to save the environment. In his 2016 Oscar win acceptance speech, he took the time to voice his concerns about climate change and urged people to play their part to save the planet.

Elon Musk

“We are running the most dangerous experimenting history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.”

Serial entrepreneur Elon Musk has paved the way for sustainability through his innovations with Tesla. Although the car is still quite expensive and is in minor use compared to vehicles that run on petrol, Tesla is the only vehicle that can be mass marketed as an environmental solution.

Like other visionaries, he can see the need for an environmental solution that is better than the one we have now. He would like to see a world where his vehicles are powered electrically from renewable energy, thus reducing the high amount of carbon emissions from cars used on the road.

Bill Gates.

“We need a miracle.  Every day we are releasing more and more CO2 into our atmosphere and making our climate change problem even worse. We need a massive amount of research into thousands of new ideas—even ones that might sound a little crazy—if we want to get to zero emissions by the end of this century.”

The world’s richest man Bill Gates takes sustainability so seriously, that he has integrated it into his home. Along with his wife, they have setup charities and organisations to raise awareness about the importance of sustainability and the impact that it has on the Earth and its inhabitants.

It’s important that the world wakes up to the importance of sustainability before it is too late. The audience that these influencers have can amplify the message substantially and can potentially make an impact that will change the fate of our planet.