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In a recent interview in iPolitics, David Suzuki stated “it’s too late” – that we have lost the fight against climate change. In this piece, Seth speaks to the reality of certain losses and the fact that all of us who work on climate have long walked a razor’s edge between hope and despair; the last few months (or years) in particular have made it near impossible to keep one’s balance. But he would put the current predicament differently. The climate fight is not something we either win or lose. As the saying goes, it functions as a “matter of degrees.” The awkwardness of the current period is that, for the next many years, we are going to experience both losses and wins simultaneously.

For years, the climate movement has been calling on the federal government to spend 2% of GDP on climate infrastructure and action - to “spend what it takes to win.” But to no avail. Instead, total federal government spending on climate action clocks in at just under 0.7% of GDP. Tragically, if we had spent the last decade spending 2% cent of GDP a year on a just climate transition, our society would be unrecognizable in all the ways we aspire. And yet, with disorienting ease, our new prime minister has announced that Canada’s military spending will hit 2% of GDP this year, and will reach a stratospheric 5% within 10 years. But there is now little doubt that the gravest security and civilizational threat we face is from the climate crisis itself – a threat multiplier at every level. Why must it be so bloody hard to spend what it takes to confront the real emergency?