Climate Change | Outrage and a Little Hope for David Suzuki

Politicians who believe in climate change and would like to protect the environment are not doing so because they are trapped in a political system that does not value nature. This is among other things what environmentalist David Suzuki, who was in Montreal this week, denounces.

The exhibition Lively naturean immersive experience currently showing at the Palais des congrès de Montréal, ends with a video where the environmentalist discusses the state of the planet with his daughter and grandson.

He points out to his elder that if nature is in crisis, it is because it seems that “the leaders of the world have forgotten what it means to be human.”

The environmental activist replied that there is, however, “a glimmer of hope and that change is happening”, because “we are seeing more and more commitments to protect nature”.

In an interview, The Canadian Press asked David Suzuki if he was concerned that the possible elections of Donald Trump in the United States and Pierre Poilievre in Canada would jeopardize many of the commitments made in recent years to protect biodiversity and fight climate change.

“Frankly, Poilievre is going to come in, and yes, he’s going to destroy all of this,” said Mr. Suzuki, seated at a table in a café at the Palais des Congrès.

While the 88-year-old does not hold the Conservative politician in high esteem, he is not satisfied, to say the least, with Justin Trudeau’s work.

He said he called the prime minister in 2015 to congratulate him on signing the Paris Agreement and setting ambitious targets for Canada.

Mr Suzuki said he emailed the prime minister explaining that “his own children will pay the price for this decision” and asking him to reflect on why he wanted to be prime minister.

“You know what he said? Nothing. He hasn’t answered my emails since,” Suzuki said.

“Trudeau understands climate change, but it’s politics that is holding him hostage,” he added.

At this point in the interview with The Canadian Press, the environmentalist’s tone rose, he even allowed himself a few swear words, which seemed to surprise, but also inspire the few people who were listening to the discussion, in the café of the Palais des congrès.

No matter who is in power, our political system is failing to protect the environment, Suzuki said.

“The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans’ job is not to protect fish, but rather the people who want to use fish or the oceans. The Minister of Natural Resources does not protect forests, but the people who exploit them. Humans have this mindset now that they are in control of everything and that they can dispose of nature as they wish, but we know how destructive this way of thinking has become. The lions disappear? We’re going to say to ourselves, ‘oh, my God, we’re going to save them.’ The humpback whales disappear? So we say to ourselves that we should do something. But we’re not solving the root of the problem,” denounced the 88-year-old man.

“Since I’ve been alive, half the species on the planet have disappeared and a million more are now on the verge of extinction,” Suzuki said.

“We are part of this nature, so when we destroy it, we destroy ourselves.”

David Suzuki quotes Mark Carney

To illustrate how humans have lost touch with nature and its value, David Suzuki referred to a passage from the book Value(s) – Building a Better World for Allby Mark Carney.

“Jeff Bezos’ Amazon is valued by the economy at over $100 billion. But the Amazon, the largest ecosystem on the planet, has no economic value until someone mines it, harvests its trees or grows corn on it.” This is further proof “that this system is fucked,” he said, adding that “we are trapped in an economic, legal and political system that does not take into account nature” and its real value, which is inestimable.

A beautiful experience that could be more daring

David Suzuki was in Montreal, in particular to visit the immersive exhibition Lively natureto which he contributed with his family and which he was visiting for the first time.

This exhibition uses immersive digital arts and aims to “inspire visitors of all ages to take positive action on major biodiversity issues.”

Leaving the exhibition, the environmentalist described the experience as “very emotional” and recommended it to “everyone, especially those with children and grandchildren.”

However, he would have liked the work as a whole to carry a bolder message.

“Humans have been around for 200,000 years, which is very recent.” But “recently we’ve become more alienated from nature” and “very suddenly we’ve become this incredible predator, because we now have technologies that allow us to do things that no animal has ever done” and “we’ve taken over the planet, we’ve become very destructive” and “I wish that reality had been conveyed” in this immersive experience.

Of indignation and hope

Despite his anger and indignation at the destructive behavior of humans and their leaders, David Suzuki says he remains hopeful.

Humans, he explained, went from being animals that were in symbiosis with nature to being destructive animals in a very short period of time, about 200 years.

The reverse, he says, can also happen.

That is to say, to move, in a very short time, from a destructive way of life to a more harmonious way of life.

This is what the environmentalist explained, indicating that he hopes that his “criticisms will have an effect and can be transformed into action.”