By David Suzuki (January 19, 2017)
For
decades, scientists have warned that we're on a dangerous path. It stems from
our delusion that endless growth in population, consumption and the economy is
possible and is the very purpose of society. But endless growth is not feasible
in a finite biosphere. Growth is not an end but a means.
Humans
are one species among countless others to which we are connected and on which
we depend. Viewed that way, everything we do has repercussions and carries
responsibilities. That we are part of a vast web is a biocentric way of seeing
that we've followed for most of our existence. But in assuming the mantle of
"dominant" species, we've shifted to thinking we're at the centre of
everything. This anthropocentric perspective leads us to imagine our needs and
demands supersede those of the rest of nature.
The
failure to see our interconnectedness and interdependence is most striking in
the way we manage government affairs. Forestry, environment and fisheries and
oceans ministers' priorities are not to protect forests, the environment or
fish and oceans, but to rationalize our actions and ensure that whatever we do
benefits us.
In
an anthropocentric world, we attempt to manage important factors through
separated silos, shattering the sense of interconnection. We draw arbitrary
lines or borders around property, cities, provinces and countries and try to
manage resources within those boundaries. But salmon may hatch in B.C. rivers
and migrate through the Alaskan panhandle along the coasts of Russia, China,
Korea and Japan before returning to their natal streams. To whom do they
"belong"?
How
do we manage monarch butterflies born in Ontario that travel through numerous
U.S. states into Mexico? Grizzly bears are protected as an endangered species
in the U.S. but can be shot if they cross into Canada.
This
absurd disconnection was illustrated when provincial first ministers and the
federal government met to discuss climate change and health in December. It was
an opportunity to recognize the enormous health implications and costs of
climate change. Instead, talks proceeded as if the two subjects were unrelated.
The
repercussions of a mere 1 C rise in global average temperature over the past
century have been enormous. In 2015, climate negotiations in Paris were meant
to signal a shift away from fossil fuels to prevent an increase of more than 2
C this century. Though the Paris commitment dictates that most known deposits
must be left in the ground, governments like Canada's continue to support new
pipelines and continued exploitation of fossil fuel reserves. Efforts by Canada,
the U.S. and other major greenhouse gas emitters have been so minimal that
scientists now openly discuss global temperature rises of 4 to 6 C this
century. Because we can't seem to curb our emissions, many suggest we must
geoengineer the planet!
As
top predator, our species remains dependent on clean air, water and soil and
biodiversity, making our ability to survive catastrophic planetary disruption
questionable. Surely that should be a top line in discussions about health.
At
the December meeting, having ignored the effects of climate change on health,
our political representatives simply assumed health-care costs will rise
steadily (they have) without attempting to understand the cause. Instead, they
focused on provincial demands for and federal resistance to annual payment
increases. But health costs can't continue to rise indefinitely.
We
are accelerating degradation of the very source of our lives and well-being —
air, water and soil — through massive use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers
and literally tens of thousands of different molecules synthesized by chemists.
Scientists suggest up to 90 per cent of cancer is caused by environmental
factors. It's lunacy to ignore widespread and pervasive pollution as a primary
health hazard. What we put into the biosphere, we put into ourselves.
If
we want to keep health costs from rising, we should focus on keeping people
healthy rather than dealing with them after they're sick. The highest
priorities must be to stop polluting the biosphere and clean up what we've
already dumped into it. Most importantly, we have to rid ourselves of
anthropocentric hubris and return to the biocentric view that we are biological
beings, as dependent on the rest of nature for our survival and well-being as
any other.
Originally published in www.davidsuzuki.org
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