“We’ve been using up our biological capital for over 20 years. The reason we maintain our illusion of biological plentitude is because we are using up the rightful legacy of our children and grandchildren.

Ecology and economy have the same root word – “eco”, and it means ‘home’. But what we have done is elevate the economy above ecology. [In describing his interaction with children in Toronto who could not explain where water or food came from, only that it was supplied by the economy]: We think if the economy is doing well we can afford these basic things… [using the concept of Gross Domestic Product], an outrageous disaster becomes a phenomenal success.

It is an intergenerational crime that in the face of the work of scientists over the last 20 years, [politicians] keep dithering as they are… We are the environment. There is no distinction. What we do to the earth we do to ourselves… What I would challenge you to do is to put a lot of effort into trying to see whether there’s a legal way of throwing our so-called leaders into jail because what they’re doing is a criminal act.”