Charities

Cate's very involved in environmental issues, and helped launch the Australian Conservation Foundation’s Who On Earth Cares campaign. Cate also supports the SolarAid program, and contributes to the Forest Guardians. Aside from environmental causes, Cate also supports the Kids Help Line.

Who On Earth Cares?

Who On Earth Cares? is an Australian initiative that allows Australians from all walks of life to show their concern about climate change and to make known they want Australia to reduce its greenhouse pollution. Their site features a map of Australia on which people can place their location, along with a optional letter to convey their concerns and motivations. Its main goal is reaching out to politicians and letting them know just how many people care about the environment. Cate's the spokesperson and face of the initiative, and her profile on the Who On Earth Cares? site reads:

"I care about climate change because of our children. I want to safeguard their future. It is a situation that affects each and every one of us, in this country and around the world. It is an inescapable problem. A common link we share. It is a crisis that provides us with an opportunity to change for the better. To change the way we consume, the way we think and the way we behave. By assuming responsibility we protect, and respect the generations behind us. How concerned are you about climate change?

The extremities in our climate will increasingly worsen unless we act immediately on a personal and political level. Changes are as simple as using less water, and as complex and vital as the Australian Government ratifying the Kyoto Protocol.
To reduce my greenhouse pollution, I have personally committed to:

Switch my household power supply to accredited GreenPower
Install a water efficient shower head
Set my washing machine to wash my clothes in cold water
Check and install adequate roof insulation
Avoid one domestic air flight this year and purchase carbon offsets
Drive 20 kilometres less each week
Reduce my household electricity and gas usage by 20%
Install a solar hot water heater

What do you want Australia to be like in the future?

I want to see a connected and progressive future for Australia, where we harness our greatest natural resources; sun, wind and brain power."

Video

Cate speaks about Who On Earth Cares?
Size: 20MB

Useful links

Official site.

SolarAid

Cate is the patron of SolarAid. The aim of the SolarAid foundation is to provide the world's poorest people with clean, durable and renewable power. As the Solar Aid site reads:

"SolarAid believes that the two most important threats facing humanity today are climate change and global poverty. SolarAid was set up as a response to this. Two billion people in the world have no access to electricity. For most of them, solar power would be their cheapest electricity source, but they cannot afford it.

SolarAid aims to enable the world's poorest people to have clean, renewable power. Solar power leads to better education, health, safety and income by allowing poor communities to cook, pump water, run fridges, store vaccines, light homes, schools, clinics and businesses, power computers and homes, farm more effectively, and much more.

By replacing carbon emitting technologies, solar power can mitigate global warming. For example, the average kerosene lamp, used widely across the developing world, creates around a tonne of carbon over seven years. Replacing such lamps with solar lanterns will lead to significant reductions in carbon emissions."

Video

Cate speaks about SolarAid.
Size: 3MB

Useful links

Official site.

Forest Guardians

Cate is a supporter of Forest Guardians, one of the Southwest US's more active environmental overseers, and has donated to their cause. Forest Guardians didn't disclose the amount, but it did call Cate's gift a "substantial donation." Cate said she "forged an intimate connection to the land" after filming "The Missing" there in 2003.

Forest Guardians seeks to protect and restore the native wildlands and wildlife of the American Southwest through fundamental reform of public policies and practices. Their goals are protecting and restoring the native biological diversity and watersheds of the American Southwest; to educate and enlist citizens to support protection of the forests, rivers, deserts and grasslands of this arid region; to advocate for the principles of conservation biology in plans to restore degraded ecosystems and watersheds; to enforce and strengthen environmental laws; and to support communities in efforts to protect their land and to practice and promote sustainable use of natural resources.

Forest Guardians is leading the fight to protect and restore the forests, rivers, grasslands, wildlife and wilderness of the Southwest, Southern Rockies and Southern Great Plains. We believe that the diversity of wildlife, plants and ecosystems, and our untrammeled wild spaces, hold the key to the rehabilitation of our impoverished region Our economic and cultural success are inextricably tied to a healthy land.

Useful links

Official site.

Kids Help Line

Kids Help Link is Australia’s only free, confidential and anonymous, 24-hour telephone and online counselling service specifically for young people aged between 5 and 25. Counsellors respond to more than 10,000 calls each week about issues ranging from relationship breakdown and bullying to sexual abuse, homelessness, suicidal thoughts, and drug and alcohol usage.

The service aims to empower young people by assisting them to develop options, identify and understand the consequences of a particular course of action, facilitate more productive relationships with family and friends, and provide information on local support services. Kids Help Line counsellors are fully qualified professionals who undergo additional accredited training at Kids Help Line.

Useful links

Official site.