Words matter. These are the best Severn Cullis-Suzuki Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
The ’90s came, and then the 2000s, and we saw radical corporate interest extremism, we’ve seen the disparity between rich and poor just get bigger, with globalisation and the corporate agenda on the rise ever since.
I am called an environmentalist a lot. But I don’t necessarily identify with that word specifically, because of the compartmentalization of the so-called environmental movement.
Real environmental change depends on us. We can’t wait for our leaders. We have to focus on what our own responsibilities are and how we can make the change happen.
I was at Earth Summit in Rio 20 years ago… I was only 12 years old. And when I was speaking to the U.N. I was fighting for my future.
When I was little, the world was simple. But as a young adult, I’m learning that as we have to make choices – education, career, lifestyle – life gets more and more complicated.
A theme throughout my life has been the intergenerational relationships human beings have.
Growing up there was always a sense of ‘We have so many gifts and we have to use that for the betterment of the planet.’
It’s always been young people at the forefront of any revolution.
I don’t want to pretend that I am a little David Suzuki, because I am not. I’m really different. I have different issues. I’m more interested in the social aspect of environmental issues.
When we look as a society, we’ve really lost the connection between our actions and the future.
There isn’t a line that you can draw between the air and your body. We are the environment.
Well, I think it’s pretty incredible watching Greta Thunberg in action.
At nine, I started catching fish in Vancouver full of tumours from toxins.
I don’t want to be involved with just the environment because I think other issues tie so much into the environment, like native issues, children’s issues, women’s rights – I think they all completely tie into each other, even the economy.
We find ourselves heading fully into an era of mass extinction.
I began to lead two lives… one being a kid and the other starting to speak internationally about the environment… and advocating for social and environmental justice.
In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rainforests full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see.
Fragmentation is a big part of the problem. You have a city where trash is taken away from the curb every week, and you don’t see it any more, and you don’t have any sense of where water comes from. So there’s no sense of responsibility and accountability and there’s also no sense of empowerment for our actions.
When you pay for something, it’s not just buying something from the store. You are actually supporting the political and economic structures that provide you with that good.
Slow business is an interesting area because it’s taking into consideration the reality that we have to make a living.
When I became a mother, I was trying so hard, using reusable diapers, washing them, looking for organic supplies even though it’s much more expensive, and facing so many challenges attempting to do the right thing.
Racism really, really makes me mad. I can see identical traits in people from other sides of the world and I can’t believe some people would treat other human beings like they weren’t even the same species.
The Haida people taught me when you are depleted, go to places that are sacred for you – the ocean, or a forest. That is where you will find incredible energy.
The end times are here. And that is a lot, so that is why we have to do our best to stop it.
Sometimes it’s hard not to feel really negative.
Engaging with your school as a unit of community is pretty powerful.
We’re in a new reality, living in a time of climate change. We already have climate refugees around the globe and now have to talk about adaptation and mitigation.
Despite humans killing off whales as much as they could, give it time and they come back. If we give nature a chance, it will regenerate.
As a parent, I understand that on an individual level parents would do anything for their child.
Clean air and clean ocean, you can’t translate that into money if you look at the cost to health, cost to fishery industry.
Reducing our personal impact on the Earth via our ecological footprint, stop driving cars, eat less meat, all these things matter.
I worry that more and more kids my age are growing up without experiencing the outdoors, which means that fewer will care about the natural world.
When you are little, it’s not hard to believe you can change the world.
