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We are the environment.
And unless we make immediate changes to protect it by living more sustainably, our survival is in peril.
That was the tough message delivered by renowned Canadian biologist and environmentalist David Suzuki on Sunday.
Suzuki gave the keynote address at the inaugural Sustainable Operations Summit Canada, which continues until Tuesday at White Oaks Resort & Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The invitation-only event brings together about 160 leaders from Canada’s largest corporations, municipalities and other groups to talk about environmental initiatives and their impact.
“This is the moment,” said Suzuki in a passionate delivery that sometimes rose to a growl. “This is a profound moment in human history.”
The science of global warming and the effects of human activity on the environment are now undeniable, he said. “We can’t ignore these (issues) any longer and we have to face up to the severity of the problem.”
Suzuki said what bothers him is that the environment was actually at the top of the agenda in the 1980s.
However, efforts to reduce carbon emissions have been scuttled by political leaders with other priorities and oil companies insisting global warming is “junk science,” said Suzuki, adding that inaction has set us back alarmingly.
“Now the problem is infinitely more difficult.”
He said one of the reasons for the success of our species is our foresight and danger avoidance. “Almost the very definition to be human is to look ahead and plan accordingly,” he said.
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With scientists acting as forward-looking scouts, we know what the future danger is with global warming, he said, and there’s no excuse if we don’t act now.
Suzuki added he was also struck by the philosophy of First Nations peoples who have always told him “the Earth is our mother.”
“The crisis we face now is what we’re doing to our mother, our Earth. Our mother is in trouble.”
He used the air as an example of this interconnectedness between humans and their environmental lifeblood.
“The air is in us, stuck to us and it’s circulating in our bodies,” he said. “Air surely ought to be regarded as a sacred substance.
”(Knowing this), what intelligent creature … would then think to use the air as a toxic dump?
“We are the air. Whatever we do to the air, we do to ourselves,” he said, continuing a theme in his speech.
The scientist saved his strongest words for our obsession with constant growth, which is “insane” if we want to reduce global emissions and save what’s left of our environment.
Part of the problem is people who are 50 or younger have only lived with constant growth and know no other reality, he suggested.
Suzuki said we’re going to have to rethink our concepts of unending expansion and consumption.
“The economy itself is a human construct and we now act as if it’s an entity all on its own,” he added. “The lunacy of conventional economics is that the very (things of nature) that keep us alive are considered an externality.
“Economists are so disconnected from reality, they think the economy can grow forever,” he said. “It can’t.”
“Our zone of air, water and land on earth is extremely thin – it’s fixed and it can’t grow.
“When do we ask the crucial question: how much is enough? When are we going to acknowledge there are limits?”
Suzuki also offered notes of optimism.
People can make a difference, one “drop in the bucket” at a time, he said.
They can reduce their impact on the environment by making choices about what they eat, how they get around and where they live.
There is also no question that attitudes about global warming and environmental sustainability are going through a sea change, he said. Many polls are showing these issues are now paramount for Canadians.
A tour across the country earlier this year confirmed this trend, said Suzuki.
After speaking to 31,000 people in 41 communities, “what came out is an overwhelming sense that Canadians care passionately about their environment.”
“Testimonials told us overwhelmingly that they want Canada to meet its Kyoto Protocol target (on carbon emissions), impose a carbon tax …. and they are willing to pay for it,” said Suzuki.
“But they want leadership and they feel very strongly that’s not what they’re getting at this moment.”