At 90, David Suzuki says he has done everything he could to protect the Earth, but fears he has fallen short

For decades, saint david Suzuki has been a familiar spirit human face and vocalize in Canada — known for his rarefied ability to make complex scientific and environmental issues understandable. 

Over time, he became known not only as a scientist and broadcaster, but as a passionate and outspoken environmental advocate — one of the first major public figures to call for urgent action on global warming. 

He deepened that commitment in 1990 by founding the David Suzuki Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to developing practical solutions to some of the planet's most pressing environmental challenges.

In 2005, Suzuki was awarded the Companion of the Order of Canada. He has also received the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for Science and the United Nations Environment Program Medal, along with dozens of other honours.

Now, as he celebrates his 90th birthday, Suzuki reflects on his life and work in a new memoir, Lessons from a Lifetime. 

He also spoke with The Sunday Magazine's Piya Chattopadhyay about a lifetime spent exploring science, nature, and the challenges facing our planet.

Suzuki points to the formative influence of his father — especially the lesson of standing firmly behind one's beliefs, even in a polarized society.

He recalls running for student president while in high school and giving what he now describes as a cautious "namby-pamby" answer in a newspaper interview.

When his father later read the story, he objected immediately. Suzuki says he tried to explain that he didn't want to upset others in the community — a response that only made his father angrier.

"[If] you want to be liked by everybody, then you're not going to stand for a goddamn thing," Suzuki remembers his father saying. 

That lesson, he says, has shaped his voice and guided his convictions for nearly a century.

Yet despite decades of raising public awareness, Suzuki feels his efforts have ultimately fallen short.

David Suzuki says he failed to convince us to 'take science seriously'

Suzuki recalls the environmental concerns rose to the top of the global agenda in the late 1980s.  

One of the first major international conferences on climate change — bringing together representatives from more than 40 countries — was held in Toronto. 

He says Prime Minister Brian Mulroney opened the meeting, and that by its conclusion, participants agreed "humans [were] performing an uncontrolled, unprecedented experiment with the only home we have." 

Climate change, they warned, posed a threat to human survival second only to global nuclear war, prompting a call for a 20 per cent reduction in 1988 greenhouse gas emissions by 2005.

But Suzuki says the world failed to take those warnings seriously.

"It is true that we are now headed in a catastrophic way, and it's unavoidable," he said. 

He argues that political will has weakened, pointing to a shift in rhetoric among global leaders. 

Suzuki singles out U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly characterized climate change "as a hoax, as fake news, as a sham."

At the same time, Suzuki points to stark scientific findings. In 2023, he says, researchers at the Stockholm Resilience Centre identified nine "planetary boundaries" that help keep Earth's systems stable. 

Crossing those thresholds, scientists warn, risks triggering abrupt or irreversible environmental change. 

The 2025 "planetary health check" paints a sobering picture: from climate and biodiversity to freshwater and chemical pollution, seven of the nine boundaries are already under strain and worsening. 

"The science has said, ‘We have passed a tipping point, we cannot go back,'" Suzuki said. 

Survival in a warming world, he says, will increasingly depend on the resilience of local communities — and preparation must start now.

Suzuki points to countries like Finland as a model. He says the Finnish government has warned citizens directly about the growing risk of emergencies, from floods and droughts to more powerful storms, cautioning that such events will become more frequent, severe and longer-lasting. 

Governments, he adds, will not be able to respond with the speed or scale these crises demand. That's why Finland is urging people to see themselves as the front line when disaster strikes. 

Neighbours will need to organize, asking urgent, practical questions: Who has medical training? Who might need immediate help? Is there access to water? Who has the tools or skills needed in an emergency?

David Suzuki on preparing for climate disaster

Suzuki also says the foundations of modern systems must change.

Legal, economic, and political frameworks, he argues, "no longer reside in a web of relationships," leaving nature entirely out of the equation.

Indigenous cultures, by contrast, are grounded in reciprocity. Nature provides abundance, and in return, humans have a responsibility to act in ways that preserve and honour that generosity. 

Looking back on 90 years, Suzuki hopes his legacy is simple: that he gave his best — and that his grandchildren will remember him that way. 

"All I can say to them is, ‘I'm one person, but I love you and I did everything I could in my life for you,'" he said. 

"In the end, that's all that matters is that you try — it's what I think defines our species, that people in the face of challenges, they try to make it better."

Journalist

Interview produced by SJ Battersby

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