Girl who silenced Rio has grown up, but not much has changed | The Chronicle Herald

Cullis-Suzuki remembers the Earth Summit coming at a time of high environmental concern. Two weeks were allotted for the talks. The heads of state from 108 countries attended, including U.S. president George Bush Sr. and Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney. Over 10,000 journalists were on hand.

...Cullis-Suzuki notes the parallels to today, as economic woes again displace the environment as a top concern for world leaders. She cites the fact the 2012 Earth Summit will last only three days. President Barack Obama will not be there, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not indicated if he will attend.

...“We’re in a new reality, living in a time of climate change. We already have climate refugees around the globe and now have to talk about adaptation and mitigation,” says Cullis-Suzuki, who holds a B.Sc. in ecology and evolutionary biology, and a masters of science specializing in ethnoecology.

...Cullis-Suzuki is now coaching young Canadians to represent the interests of the next generation as delegates at Rio 2012.

...In a recent blog, David Suzuki declared environmentalism a failure. Creating environment ministries and holding environment-focused conferences, he argued, made the environment just “another special interest” like agriculture or education. It was something separate from the economy and so fell to the wayside when recessions struck.