"Humanity is a weapon of mass destruction against nature. [...] Forget the daydreams of certain billionaires: there is no Planet B. [...] We need to sign a peace pact with nature. [We must sign a peace pact with nature. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
These words have echoed in my heart every day since I first read them. For me, nature is the source of life: it's THE solution to the climate crisis.
If we speak of nature as a great whole that brings together all forms of life, it is a set of ecosystems that has been transforming and adapting for billions of years. Some species have not survived the passage of time, and humans have organized themselves to be among them, having decided to exclude themselves from this ecosystem by exploiting it and abusing its resources to the detriment of other living beings...
Fortunately, what distinguishes humans from other species is their ability and willingness to help others. As anthropologist Margaret Mead put it, following her discovery of a broken and healed human femur:
"In the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You can't run away from danger, go to the river to drink or hunt for food. You are meat for the prowling beast. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal. A broken femur that has healed is proof that someone took the time to stay with the one who fell, dressed the wound, carried the person to safety and cared for them while they recovered. Helping someone else through difficulties is the starting point of civilization."
So why not use our human compassion and skill to help nature heal? Why not care for and nurture the other living beings who share this planet with us, floating alone in a vast universe with no other life on the horizon?
After a COP15 on biodiversity in Montreal, where there was an international agreement, a new IPCC report, the mobilization of organizations to protect nature (notably Nature Québec and SNAP), and not forgetting the daily struggle of the First Nations to conserve their most biodiversity-rich territories, there is clearly hope for Quebec.
Quebec's territory is home to significant biodiversity; all we need is government collaboration to promote and protect it. We need a concrete plan, an adequate budget, actions, regulations and laws that direct the various ministries in a coherent strategy.
With each passing day, we continue to destroy nature and species on our planet. We must now reverse this trend, which ultimately affects our own survival. If the Canadian government is serious about the commitments it made at COP15, putting in place a rigorous legislative framework within the next year would certainly be an excellent first step.
This agreement also recognizes the place of local and regional governments among the leaders. While countries have made national commitments, solutions will remain local and will need to be adapted to communities and their specific context.
It must therefore empower the public to demand accountability and take legal action against those who destroy biodiversity, and enable humans who live on a territory to be responsible for it, to be its guardians, to care for it, beautify it and enhance it by using its resources equitably and sustainably. We must also learn from the First Nations, through an open sharing of knowledge, how to live in harmony with the ecosystems of the territory we occupy.
As spokesperson for biodiversity, fauna and flora for the Green Party of Quebec, I will do my best to rally all living beings towards a common goal: living well together in a shared space, because biodiversity goes beyond protected areas.
I will follow the decisions and actions of the government that manages our territory, sharing with you the impacts, positive and negative, on the nature that shares with us this immense territory of forests, cities and water. I'll propose solutions from the Green Party of Quebec, based on facts and analyses from organizations, specialists, experts and scientists.
In the hope that companies, investors and government will become nature's allies, rather than its enemies.
Karine Steinberger
Spokesperson for the Green Party of Quebec on the issue of biodiversity of Quebec's flora and fauna.
