Madonna, Robert de Niro and Cate Blanchett among 200 stars and scientists calling for 'radical change' in a post-coronavirus world

The stars are backing the #thetimehascome campaign, calling for an end to mass consumerism and climate destruction

Madonna, Robert de Niro, and Cate Blanchett join #thetimehascome campaign, calling for radical change in a post Covid-19 world. Supplied

There will be many people wondering how a post Covid-19 world might look. A large chunk of those people will be hoping for a return to normality, but there are also many calling for things to change.

Among those are a group of more than 200 stars and scientists, including the likes of Madonna, Robert de Niro, and Cate Blanchett, who have all signed an open letter calling for radical change across the world when the coronavirus pandemic eases.

Published in French daily Le Monde, the letter calls for an end to mass consumerism and a "radical transformation" of world economies in order to save the planet.

The letter was headed by Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate for medicine, chemistry and physics, and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

“We believe it is unthinkable to ‘go back to normal’,” the letter says. “Adjustments are not enough. The problem is systemic.

“The ongoing ecological catastrophe is a meta-crisis. Unlike a pandemic... a global ecological collapse will have immeasurable consequences.”

Among other famous names to sign the letter are Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Jane Fonda, Marion Cotillard, Willem Dafoe, Rooney Mara, Christian Louboutin, Adam Driver, Ben Hardy, Jeremy Irons and Ralph Fiennes.

The 200 signatories said it was time “to leave behind the unsustainable logic that still prevails and to undertake a profound overhaul of our goals, values, and economies.”

The short letter added: "The pursuit of consumerism and an obsession with productivity have led us to deny the value of life itself: that of plants, that of animals, and that of a great number of human beings.

"Pollution, climate change, and the destruction of our remaining natural zones has brought the world to a breaking point."

Posting to his own Instagram account, Yunus said, "On 6th May, many international public figures will collectively claim that #THETIMEHASCOME to lay the foundation of a new world. The world that will emerge after the Covid-19 crisis should not be a copy of the world we had before. We call for a new way of thinking and for a paradigm shift."