When legendary environmental activist and TV presenter David Suzuki last crossed paths with Zoomer in 2020, he had already accepted that his lifelong campaign to avert a climate crisis had fallen short.

“People come up to me and thank me for what I’ve done, and I say ‘For what?’ I’ve done the best I could, but we’re going right over the cliff. I don’t feel that it’s had the impact,” he said at the time. “I’m going to do everything I can to try to make a difference in how far we fall over that cliff … that’s all I can do.”

Unfortunately, today, the 90-year-old eco-warrior isn’t any less pessimistic about our trajectory. In fact, the geneticist-turned-environmentalist, says its time to focus on damage control rather than prevention.

“Look, the science is in. We’ve passed all of these tipping points and there’s nothing we can do about it,” he told CTV News, referring to “planetary boundaries” identified by the Stockholm Resilience Centre as the important systems that keep Earth stable. According to its most recent report, seven of those boundaries – including climate, biodiversity and fresh water – are under strain and worsening. “We’re going into unknown territory, but at least we can try to minimize the effect of what’s coming,” says Suzuki.

So instead of raging against the societal and political mechanisms that have pushed our planet beyond its limits, he’s urging communities to prepare for the catastrophic effects of climate change still to come. That’s not to say he’s any less fiery when discussing the topic, especially when it comes to a certain world leader’s ignorance on the subject.

“We have the president of the most powerful, richest nation on earth who can dismiss climate change as a hoax,” he told the CBC’s Sunday Magazine. “What the hell?!”

As gloomy as his current talking points may sound and despite operating in a phase of life he calls “the death zone,” the eco warrior is still making the most of his time on the planet he’s spent his life trying to protect.

Recently, he released Lessons from a Lifetime, a book that compiles photos and stories from his life, as well as tributes from those who have found his work inspiring, including fellow Canadian icons Margaret Atwood and Neil Young. According to Suzuki, it’s a premature memorial of sorts.

“With funerals, people give all these speeches about how nice the person was, but the guy’s dead,” he explains. “I always said I’d like to have my funeral before I die. And in a way, the book is kind of like a funeral.”

The eco-warrior, who spent over four decades bringing environmental issues to a mainstream audience as the host of CBC’s The Nature of Things, isn’t ready for his curtain call either – quite literally. For the last several weeks, he and his wife Tara Cullis – co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation – have been performing a 16-date national tour of their theatre production What You Won’t Do For Love, which sees the couple reflect on their 50-year partnership in life and activism.

“Together, Tara and I showed what two people in love with each other and with the Earth can do,” Suzuki said.

As for the world he’s leaving behind for his grandchildren, he takes comfort in the fact that he gave his fight everything he had.

“All I can say to them is, ‘I’m one person, but I love you and I did everything I could in my life for you,'” he told the CBC. “In the end, that’s all that matters is that you try – it’s what I think defines our species, that people in the face of challenges, they try to make it better.”

Over the years, in conversation with Zoomer, Suzuki’s tireless efforts have been well documented. In light of Earth Day, we revisit those discussions and the inspiring insights he’s shared with us about our world, aging and his life’s work.

David Suzuki On Leaving The Nature of Things and the Importance of Elders in Activism

“We’ve had the excitement and the honour of living a full life. We’ve made mistakes, we’ve suffered failures. We’ve had a few successes. We’ve learned a lot. And our job now is to tell the young ones what the hell we’ve learned.”

On Longevity and His Canadian Screen Awards Lifetime Achievement Honour

“I think it’s important now that my message on the environment really no longer touches people’s minds only. We have to touch people’s hearts.”

On Aging Well and the Secrets for Living Longer, Better

“The idea is, ‘Oh gee, maybe we can use genetic engineering and extend life’ and all of that bullsh*t. When you’re 70 or so life isn’t all that great unless you work on staying healthy and all that. Who needs another 50 years of a sh*tty life?”

“I’ve Done the Best I Could”: The Eco-Warrior Gets Real About the Crisis Facing Our Planet

“You want to believe climate change is bullshit? Guess what — there are dozens of websites that tell you that. And so the tragedy now is that we have information coming at us from every angle, but people aren’t critical about who’s putting that information out so they don’t have to change their minds.”

Reflections of an Eco-Warrior

“In dealing with environmental issues, I often hear that we must choose between the economy and the environment. This is insane. The environment – air, water, soil, other species – keeps us alive and healthy. The economy is a human construct. It can and must be changed to conform to the realities of nature.”