World Environment Day | Bhumi Pednekar: It was a lonely journey when I started speaking about climate change

Bhumi Pednekar, having been a crusader when it comes to climate change and environmental issues, confesses that when she started speaking up about it, it was a journey where she found herself lonely.

Elaborating on the same, she says, “I don’t remember the first time I became environment conscious. We were taught certain things in school that climate change is real, so there was science backing this thought. Subconsciously right since then, I have been working towards the cause. Obviously, as a young adult, we didn’t have enough people talking about the problem as we have today. The entire movement is led by young adults today, but back then, it was a very lonely journey because I didn’t have many like minded people like me.”

The 32-year-old, currently filming for The Lady Killer with Arjun Kapoor, organised a plantation drive, tying up with a children’s NGO. She adds that after she became a celebrity though, she found more voices who joined her. “Not just the fact that it is a less lonely journey now. A lot more people believe that the largest threat looming over humanity is climate change. There’s a breakout of various viruses, a lot of natural disasters, humanity is going through a crisis, and people recognise that today,” says Pednekar.

“I wouldn’t say that was the case right after I became an actor. When I would share public platforms with other colleagues of mine, they didn’t necessarily look at this issue as something that can be such a big threat. We are five months into 2022, and we are seeing floods in various cities, large areas have completely dried up at places, heat wave is on, monsoons are early. This is climate change!,” explains the actor, who makes it a point to plant saplings each day on World Environment Day.