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David Suzuki

David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. He is companion to the Order of Canada and a recipient of UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for science, the United Nations Environment Program medal, the 2009 Right Livelihood Award, and Global 500. Dr. Suzuki is professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and holds 26 honorary degrees from universities around the world. He is familiar to television audiences as host of the long-running CBC television program The Nature of Things, and to radio audiences as the original host of CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks, as well as the acclaimed series It's a Matter of Survival and From Naked Ape to Superspecies. His written work includes more than 52 books, 19 of them for children. He lives with his wife, Tara Cullis, and family in Vancouver, B.C.

Blog - David Suzuki March 3
Person wearing mask with words "I can't breathe." Image credit: David Ramos/Unsplash
Lessons in the pandemic's shadow: Moving past hope to action
David Suzuki | It would be a tragedy if, in the rush to return to normal, we cast aside what we've learned, and postpone the work necessary to change our systems to build the resilience we need to thrive.
Blog - David Suzuki February 24
Industrial factory in grassy field. Image credit: Anton Eprev/Unsplash
Faulty economic thinking makes destroying nature profitable
David Suzuki | Destroying nature is more profitable than protecting it, and tools such as gross domestic product are not fit for assessing real economic health. GDP is "based on a faulty application of economics."
Blog - David Suzuki February 17
Factory building with smoke emissions in New Brunswick. Image credit: ETA+/Unsplash
Clearing the air on fossil fuel pollution
David Suzuki | Rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions will quickly reduce pollution. That's important, because particulates kill a lot of people and make many more ill -- even more than previously thought.
Blog - David Suzuki February 10
Woman holding test tubes. Image credit: National Cancer Institute/Unsplash
Finding wisdom in science and Indigenous knowledge
David Suzuki | We need more observational science, but we have to recognize its fundamental weaknesses and inadequacies, and scientists must be careful not to confuse their biases with truths.
Blog - David Suzuki February 3
Person holding plant. Image credit: Benjamin Combs/Unsplash
Local acts can build global impacts
David Suzuki | Working with others for the betterment of your neighbourhood, town, city, province, country or world contributes to well-being and happiness.
Blog - David Suzuki January 27
Keystone XL construction site. Image credit: Government of Alberta/Flickr
Alberta inquiry steps into a past era's dark denial
David Suzuki | This use of tax dollars to discredit climate science is egregious, but it's peanuts compared to the more than $1.5 billion the Alberta government has invested in the Keystone XL pipeline.
Blog - David Suzuki January 20
Wildfire in California. Image credit: Russ Allison Loar/Flickr
Net zero offers affordable path to climate stability
David Suzuki | New research shows global average temperatures could stabilize within a couple of decades if we quickly reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to zero.
Blog - David Suzuki January 13
Pro-Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol. Image credit: Brett Davis/Flickr
U.S. crisis shows need to speak truth to power
David Suzuki | During the pandemic alone, the world's 500 richest people grew their wealth by almost US$2 trillion, while so many others suffered. The world’s wealthiest one per cent now owns half the global wealth.
Blog - David Suzuki January 6
Image: Book cover of "The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature"
Rediscovering our place in nature
David Suzuki | An economy was once created to serve people and their communities. Today economic rationalists contend that people must sacrifice and give up social services for the economy.
Blog - David Suzuki December 15
Image: NASA/Unsplash
We have the power to create a brighter future
David Suzuki | It bears repeating that getting back to "normal" isn't good enough. "Normal" means a global economy fuelled by overconsumption.
Blog - David Suzuki December 8
Image: Mike Marrah/Unsplash
It's time for Canada to address environmental racism
David Suzuki | The absence of a legislative mandate or governance structures to address environmental racism in Canada is a blind spot that must be remedied.
Blog - David Suzuki December 1
Image: Samuel Ferrara/Unsplash
Pandemic second wave highlights urgent need to rediscover the fundamentals of life
David Suzuki | This next decade will be critical if we're to rediscover balance with the natural world. By 2030, we'll have a good sense of whether we're on track.
Blog - David Suzuki November 24
Image: Jackson David/Unsplash
Friendships make life and climate better
David Suzuki | If we spent more time building relationships, we would also enrich our inner lives, and that could reduce the consumption that drives carbon output and pollution.
Blog - David Suzuki November 17
Image: Brian Yurasits/Unsplash
Canada's plastics ban should include beverage containers
David Suzuki | Although many concerns around banning single-use plastic beverage containers are valid, ban proponents argue they aren't insurmountable -- and the reasons to include them in a ban are compelling.
Blog - David Suzuki November 10
Image: Anthony Crider/Flickr
U.S. election shows need to confront all forms of injustice
David Suzuki | Because we're shaped by the societies we're part of, we must learn to recognize and overcome our own conscious and unconscious biases.
Blog - David Suzuki November 3
Image: 223 223/Unsplash
What do we lose when the caribou disappear?
David Suzuki | When we turn away from the world not shaped by human hands and decrease our connection to other living things, we can be struck by profound loneliness.
Blog - David Suzuki October 27
Image: Sally T. Buck/Flickr
Decolonization requires action and new ways of seeing
David Suzuki | Land repatriation lies at the heart of decolonization. In Canada, we must work to advance Indigenous sovereignty, support Indigenous land-use practices, and shift governance.
Blog - David Suzuki October 20
Image: sippakorn yamkasikorn
Federal government must reject industry efforts to derail clean fuel standard
David Suzuki | Greenpeace recently obtained leaked strategy documents advising industry to push back against measures such as the federal clean fuel standard -- a pillar of Canada's emissions reduction plan.
Blog - David Suzuki October 13
Image: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington​/Flickr
To save wild salmon, Discovery Islands fish farms must go
David Suzuki | The aquaculture industry's own data show 33 per cent of farms exceeded the sea lice limit while juvenile salmon were migrating past this year.
Blog - David Suzuki October 6
Image: Filip Zrnzević​/Unsplash
Humility, caring and wisdom make a better future possible
David Suzuki | In times of compounded crises we can no longer afford to listen to advocates of narrow self-interest or those who claim that favouring the wealthy and powerful will send benefits trickling down.
Blog - David Suzuki September 29
Image: Veni-Vidi Vint/Unsplash
Blame game hurts wildlife
David Suzuki | The role of any animal within its ecological niche is far more complicated than the single predator-prey interaction that culling purportedly tries to control.
Blog - David Suzuki September 22
A young climate striker at last year's Toronto march. Image: Lewis Parsons/Unsplash
Back to school in an uncertain climate
David Suzuki | Young people are drawing attention to the pressing need to address the climate emergency. Once more, they're asking grownups to pay attention and support the call for strong, effective climate action.
Blog - David Suzuki September 15
Image: Ella Ivanescu/Unsplash
Carbon pricing is like handwashing in a pandemic
David Suzuki | Pricing carbon, along with removing fossil fuel subsidies, stimulates investment in low-carbon energy technologies that will lead the way to a decarbonized economy and a shift away from fossil fuels.
Blog - David Suzuki September 8
Image: NASA/Unsplash
Our children shouldn't have to pay for our excesses
David Suzuki | Even with a later "overshoot" date, we burned through a year's resources in under eight months. That means we would need 1.6 Earths to support humanity's current demands on the planet's ecosystems.
Blog - David Suzuki September 1
An oil well in Alberta. Image: taylorandayumi/Flickr
Old oil and gas wells find new life with renewable energy
David Suzuki | In most cases, it's best to restore well sites to more natural states. But, with roads, grid connections and infrastructure already in place, some can be converted to renewable energy operations.
Blog - David Suzuki August 25
Image: Brian Yurasits/Unsplash
We are living in a plastic world
David Suzuki | The constant rush to exploit resources, burn fossil fuels and create disposable plastic products for the sake of short-term profits is putting all life and health at risk.
Blog - David Suzuki August 18
Image: American Public Power Association/Unsplash
True recovery means looking to the future, not the past
David Suzuki | Bailing out an industry that should have started winding down decades ago is no way to build societal resilience in the face of climate, biodiversity and health crises.
Blog - David Suzuki August 11
Image: Ales Krivec/Unsplash
Circular economy is too important to be co-opted by industry
David Suzuki | Cutting down forests that have never been logged to produce more toilet paper, packaging and other paper products we barely recycle can never be circular, let alone sustainable.
Blog - David Suzuki August 5
Image: NESA by makers/Unsplash
Four-day work week can spur necessary transformation
David Suzuki | Transforming work-life balance through a well-being lens can lead to significant health benefits, contribute to gender equality, improve work redistribution and have important environmental benefits.
Blog - David Suzuki July 29
Image: Matt Thomason/Unsplash
Language shapes our relationship with nature
David Suzuki | Western culture and the English language primarily view nature as something owned by humans that can be exploited.

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