In France, they are nicknamed “Les Verts” (The Greens). Committed to the protection of the environment, French stars such as Marion Cotillard, Mélanie Laurent and Luc Besson do not hesitate to use their celebrity to defend this cause.

An environmental activist for the Greenpeace association, Cotillard has been fighting for years to protect our environment. The French actress does not hesitate to carry out actions in favor of the fight against deforestation, for the preservation of species or ancient forests of the planet. Totally invested in this cause, she refused lucrative contracts in order to be consistent with her convictions, such as the L’Oréal brand which is still accused of testing its products on animals. The actor, who played Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose in 2007, also lends her voice to green projects, narrating the documentary Une (R)evolution in 2012, directed by Cyril Dion, devoted to the protection of the environment. She also produced another documentary, Bigger Than Us, that follows young activists around the world.

Laurent is another French actor who is a fervent protector of our environment. In 2009, at the invitation of Greenpeace, she traveled to Indonesia which marked a turning point in her life when she became aware of deforestation for the profits of the palm oil and paper industry.

“The destruction of forests is one of the main causes of climate change. This is why I wanted to come here with Greenpeace, on the frontier of deforestation, to see with my own eyes the ongoing disaster and to call on the world leaders who will be gathering in Copenhagen to do everything possible to stop the deforestation, here and around the world. This is one of the ways to avoid climate catastrophe,” she said.

Laurent has also worked alongside Kofi Annan (former Secretary-General of the United Nations), supporting his efforts on global warming. She narrated the Disney film Nature which shows the need to preserve the fragile balance of biodiversity and participated in the French version of the documentary The End of the Line, denouncing the misdeeds of industrial fishing on the ocean and its population. Her new battle is the fight against waste. In her new house, she uses untreated wood, has compost in her garden and sorts all her waste.

French director Besson has many ecological documentaries to his credit. The most famous and important is the one produced in collaboration with Yann Arthus-Bertrand: Boomerang. It is a magnificent documentary that is intended to raise awareness among the general public by showing that there are solutions to save the planet. Besson also fights for biodiversity. He did not hesitate to oppose many hunting associations when hunters from Orne, France filed a complaint against him for letting deer reproduce naturally on his property which they said were causing damage to the land.

“In the midst of a debate on the drama of ecology and biodiversity that affects the whole planet, the hunters of Orne ask me to kill the deer that pass in front of my house! Should I put my children on the balcony for the occasion? These people are in the opposite direction of history,” said the director.