Is it too late?

August 14, 2025

Recently, the famous Canadian environmentalist, David Suzuki was interviewed by iPolitics and, contrary to his typically direct but hopeful rhetoric, he shared his current wisdom about climate change: “it’s too late.”

It was shocking to read even though I’ve acknowledged to myself and my community that I believe we are in a slow downward state of collapse of the environment, social systems, and the economy. While I am someone who has stayed hopeful but also abreast of the current science that projects us towards a deathly trajectory, it was still a depressing corroboration to hear that sentiment from a public figure.

Suzuki concluded his interview with a sliver of hope that I both share and practice. As a community, we can support one another through mutual aid. A real barefoot doctors’ approach to caring for community. We can practice decentralized support to survive pending climate chaos, socioeconomic destabilization, and more general discomfort. This kind of thought and action calms my nervous system: I support my neighbours, store extra liters of water in my garage for my friends, appreciate and share my skills in growing food, continue to nourish soil with compost, and teach others to do the same.

I listened to a follow up podcast interview with Suzuki, and I enjoyed hearing more from him about current politics and the state of science and fossil fuel extraction. His rants are compelling and true, and they fire me up. What Suzuki shared was the opposite of apathy. It instead was a call to END to fossil fuel extraction as well as an acknowledgment that our current economic system is not complementary to environmental protection and Indigenous justice. He shared that we don’t know what the heck will happen when we reach certain climate thresholds, but that we can support our friends, family, neighbours, and community to be prepared — physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually — for what might be yet to come.

The takeaway I want to share with you is that right now is the moment to do what you can to learn and practice resilience including nervous system regulation, food growing, composting, preserving foods, herbal medicine, and more. Do these things with your community and for your community, and you’ll be more well resourced in unstable times.

Posted in Blog, Reflections