A shift is taking place

Dear DSF Community,

Today is my 80th birthday. Many of you honoured this milestone by standing up for water rights on World Water Day, March 22, or by making a donation to the Foundation — and I can’t thank you enough for your caring and generosity.

When my wife Tara and I started the David Suzuki Foundation in 1990, it was with a sense of urgency, galvanized by my work on the 1988 five-part CBC radio series It’s a Matter of Survival. My interviews with more than 150 scientists and experts from around the world made it clear that humans were destroying the very life-support systems of the planet on a grand scale, at an alarming rate.

Program listeners wanted to know what they could do. We received more than 16,000 letters — in pre-email days!

Up until then, my response had always been, “I’m just the messenger,” but Tara said that wasn’t good enough, that it was time to talk about solutions. She was right. The program’s message was that it wasn’t too late to change course. People who wrote asking for guidance inspired Tara and me to start the David Suzuki Foundation.

Over the past 26 years, the Foundation has faced struggles, challenges and changes. Although we’ve succeeded in many important areas — getting much-needed protection for habitat and species, providing scientific research on issues ranging from climate change to fisheries to natural capital, and raising awareness about our fundamental interconnectedness with nature — the pace of planetary destruction has not slowed.

But as awareness about the challenges we face grows, a shift is taking place.

The Paris Agreement, signed by 195 countries at the end of last year, showed the world is finally taking the climate crisis seriously.

Thanks to people like you who have supported the Foundation’s work with your time, donations and actions, more and more people every day are coming together to make our world a healthier place for ourselves and our children and grandchildren.

If you'd like to join us today, supporting the Foundation through a donation is one simple way to make an immediate impact. As a father and grandfather, I know I share with you the sense that this work is worthwhile and that together we can bring about positive change.

As I reflect on the David Suzuki Foundation’s 26-year history and my own 80 years on this beautiful planet, I’m grateful to all of you who have stood with us and supported us, and who continue to work for a better world. I hope you will continue to support the Foundation in its important work.

Thank you.

David Suzuki
Co-Founder, David Suzuki Foundation