MANILA, Philippines - Former Vice President Al Gore, after his defeat in the US presidential elections in 2000, reset the course of his life to focus on helping save the planet.

The Academy Award-winning documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” directed by Davis Guggenheim, brings home Gore’s persuasive argument that we can no longer view global warming as a political issue—rather, it is the biggest moral challenge facing our global civilization.

In celebration of Earth Day, “An Inconvenient Truth” debuts on HBO Asia on April 22, 9 p.m. This interview with Gore is from the documentary’s production notes.

You have been interested in the issue of global warming for some time. What has your involvement been and what made you decide to turn your concern into a traveling show?
I began studying the issue in the late 1960s because of the alarm sounded by one of my college professors, Roger Revelle. I helped organize the first congressional hearings on the issue in the late 1970s after my election to the US House of Representatives. I began discussions with leaders in other countries in the 1980s and organized an international network of legislators to address the issue. As a US senator, and later as vice president, I participated in numerous negotiations on the issue, including the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (1992) and Kyoto Protocol negotiations (1997).

As each new batch of scientific studies confirmed and deepened the reasons for my concern, I began to understand this task of communicating the urgency of the crisis as a kind of mission. But I’m not done yet. And I’m learning everyday how to communicate more effectively on this issue.

Can you talk about your son’s accident and how that personal event affected this particular mission?
The possibility of losing a child was a searingly painful experience that taught me many lessons. For example, I never understood until then that ... suffering binds people together. Others who had experienced the [same] pain reached out to me and connected, soul to soul, in a way that was transformational and healing. Afterwards, I understood in an entirely new way the possibility that we could lose this precious Earth (or at least its welcoming habitability for humans as we have known it for thousands of years) in a way I don’t think I could have ever have grasped emotionally or spiritually before.

Why is Participant the appropriate company to produce this documentary? Will you participate in the social action campaign that they design for every movie?
Jeff Skoll came to my slide presentation and when we met and talked about the possibility of a movie, I was very impressed with his savvy and his passion. His company is unique and I admire what he is doing. Yes, I will be deeply involved in the social action campaign. (www.climatecrisis.net)

In the film, you say we shouldn’t go from “denial to despair.” Please elaborate.
Our civilization is still in ... “category 5 denial” over the issue. But the denial is beginning to give way. As it yields to widespread recognition that we face an imminent planetary emergency, we must guard against the illusion that the crisis is too big to solve. We have the solutions available. The only thing missing is political will—but that is a renewable resource.

You talk about “an inconvenient truth”—and that has become the title of the film. What does that mean exactly?
Some truths are hard to hear, because if you really hear them—and understand that they are true—then you have to change. And change can be quite inconvenient.

There seems to be a real sense of urgency now about this topic. At the same time, we’ve squandered so much time by not addressing it head on. One would think that you’d find that depressing and yet you soldier on and seem to be so positive.

It feels sometimes like the “Perils of Pauline,” but there is every reason for optimism if the person reading this sentence will make a commitment to help face the crisis head-on. We no longer have much time left to change—but we do have time.

(After the April 22 premiere, repeats are scheduled the next day at 1 p.m.; on April 25 at 11 p.m.; April 26, 7 p.m.; and April 27, 5 p.m.)