During a discussion at the recent Cannes Film Festival in 2023, actress Jane Fonda blamed racism and White men for climate change, saying that the “present environmental crisis” would not exist without the patriarchy.
“This is serious,” Fonda said. “We’ve got about seven, eight years to cut ourselves in half of what we use of fossil fuels, and unfortunately, the people that have the least responsibility for it are hit the hardest — Global South, people on islands, poor people of color.”
“It is a tragedy that we have to absolutely stop. We have to arrest and jail those men — they’re all men [behind this],” Fonda added.
Jane Fonda blamed men and racism for climate change, arguing that without the patriarchy, the crisis allegedly of epic proportions would cease to exist.
"This is serious, we’ve got about seven, eight years to cut ourselves in half of what we use of fossil fuels, and… pic.twitter.com/6t8loZNTsm
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Responding to a question from an audience member, Fonda argued that the “climate crisis” exists because of racism.
“It’s good for us all to realize, there would be no climate crisis if there was no racism. There would be no climate crisis if there was no patriarchy. A mindset that sees things in a hierarchical way. White men are the things that matter and then everything else [is] at the bottom,” she said.
Fonda, known for receiving criticism in the past for her anti-Vietnam War protests that earned her the nickname “Hanoi Jane,” has long supported raising climate change awareness, and her claims at the recent Cannes Film Festival did not differ.
She discussed activism, including the meaning behind criticizing those she holds accountable for climate change, claiming that whenever taking a side on the topic, she is “fighting patriarchy and racism.”
“It’s important because we have to get out of the silos—feminists over here, environmentalists over here. That’s what I learned when I started being an activist around the Vietnam War. The more you go down any issue, whatever it is, you realize that it’s all connected,” Fonda said.
“And if we solve the climate crisis, and we haven’t solved those other things, we’re gonna be in trouble,” she asserted.
During an October 2019 protest in Washington D.C., outside of the U.S. Capitol building, Fonda and “Grace and Frankie” co-star Sam Waterston were arrested because of their climate activism.
At the time, Fonda told a reporter that she purposely went to the Capitol to draw media attention to the climate “problem.”
“We’re trying to raise the visibility of this crisis,” she said.
In 2019, Fonda and actor Ted Danson were arrested while protesting in Washington D.C., and at other climate protests.
Between 1991-2001, Fonda was married to CNN tycoon Ted Turner, who currently serves as the network’s co-chairman of the Board of Directors. Fonda reportedly claimed that they divorced because she decided to become a Christian.
Yet, in a memoir published by Turner titled “Onward and Upward,” he denied Fonda’s claims and said his frustration was because the actress never informed him of her switch to Christianity until publicized in the press.
