Robert Redford — Oscar-winning director, founder of the Sundance Institute, and one of America’s most loved actors and influential environmental advocates — died on September 16, 2025, at his home in Utah. He was 89. News of his death was confirmed by multiple outlets. Redford leveraged his worldwide fame to protect wild lands, accelerate climate action, and fund storytelling that moves people to care about the planet. In short, a true Green Prophet.
Below are five of his biggest environmental causes and achievements—each documented by reliable sources.
Longtime NRDC trustee and voice for climate action
Redford served for decades as a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), using that platform to press for clean energy, clean air, and conservation. He opened NRDC’s groundbreaking “green” headquarters in 2003 and addressed UN climate ministers in 2015, urging faster action. He received multiple conservation honors, including the Audubon Medal (1989). The film above was produced and screened for the UN event.
Co-founding The Redford Center to fund impact storytelling
In 2005, Redford and his son James co-founded The Redford Center, a nonprofit that produces and funds films and campaigns to drive environmental progress. The Center’s short “Robert Redford’s Environmental Legacy” premiered during the Paris COP21 events, highlighting his belief that art and nature together can change the world.
Good film has the power to change the world. See Woody Harrelson on regenerative agriculture.
Protecting Utah’s public lands and sacred places (Bears Ears)
Redford was a fierce defender of the American West, partnering with Tribes and local communities to safeguard Bears Ears and other landscapes. He publicly urged federal leaders to designate and then protect Bears Ears National Monument.
Early, effective opposition to a Utah coal plant
In the 1970s to 80s, Redford helped lead opposition to a coal-fired power plant proposal near his Sundance home and in the Kaiparowits region. The fight became a defining early win for conservationists—so prominent that some locals burned him in effigy.
Elevating independent voices through Sundance
By founding the Sundance Institute and Festival (1981), Redford created the world’s most influential incubator for independent film—amplifying environmental narratives and careers that changed culture. His broader public service was recognized with the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Across five decades, Redford fused art, advocacy, and institution-building: NRDC trustee and national climate voice; co-founder of an environmental media nonprofit; steadfast defender of public lands; an early, successful opponent of local coal development; and creator of Sundance, which gave countless environmental stories a stage. These contributions sit alongside his film achievements (Ordinary People, A River Runs Through It, All the President’s Men) and national honors. May more people be inspired by legends like Redford and may his family be comforted in this difficult time.
