We are very fond of blaming the poor for destroying the environment. But often it is the powerful, including governments, that are responsible.

I was particularly talking with respect to aid, because that to me is one area that can make people so dependent, and unfortunately, that dependency starts with the government.

In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace.

There's a general culture in this country to cut all the trees. It makes me so angry because everyone is cutting and no one is planting.

I know there is pain when sawmills close and people lose jobs, but we have to make a choice. We need water and we need these forests.

There are certain areas where foreign investors can help the local people to generate wealth, and improve their quality of life. Some companies, for example, Del Monte, which produces pineapples in Kenya, pay a huge amount of taxes, I am sure, to the Kenyan government, and they do create jobs for thousands of locals.

You cannot enslave a mind that knows itself. That values itself. That understands itself.