In an exclusive interview with CBC's On the Coast, two youth activists responded to Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki's recent remarks about the fight against climate change.

Suzuki told the digital news outlet iPolitics in early July, "I've never said this before to the media, but it's too late." 

On the Coast host Gloria Macarenko invited two young climate activists to share their thoughts on Suzuki's seemingly dejected claim.

CBC youth columnist Aishwarya Puttur and Canada's youth delegate to the 2025 United Nations High-Level Political Forum, Lily YangLiu, both rejected the hopelessness that many took from Suzuki's comments.

"I do agree that there are irreversible consequences that we will be facing. But I always, always, always believe that there is always time and there is hope to ensure that these consequences are not as devastating as they will be if we were to do nothing," said Puttur in the mid-July panel discussion.

"For me, climate change — it's not a binary. There's no single point where we either survive or collapse. … Every single degree counts," YangLiu said.

Lowering the planet's warming by even one or two degrees could translate into tangible, real-world impacts, YangLiu said, including preventing millions of people from experiencing extreme heat.

It may be hard to stay positive about climate progress given the severity of the environmental, health, and economic consequences that scientists project. But this may also be made more difficult by a culture of growing skepticism and despair.

Suzuki has since clarified that he hasn't given up the fight himself. But, for his part, he's now prioritizing community action over governments.

"Do we just give up? No," he told CBC in his own mid-July interview. "Get together with your local block or your series of blocks and start finding out who's going to need help in an emergency."

The climate optimism of younger generations, together with the experience of elders long devoted to the climate fight, may well be just the fuel to keep changemakers motivated to combat rising global temperatures.

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While individual and local efforts to tackle Earth's intensifying weather events are important, YangLiu still emphasizes that effective solutions may require government action and meaningful policy change.

Climate conversations must involve the world's biggest polluters — businesses and industries — she says, as well as the voices of young people, who will live with the outcome of today's decisions.

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