Severn Suzuki was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her mother is writer Tara Elizabeth Cullis. Her father, geneticist and environmental activist David Suzuki, is a third-generation Japanese Canadian. While attending Lord Tennyson Elementary School in French Immersion, at age 9, she founded the Environmental Children's Organization (ECO), a group of children dedicated to learning and teaching other youngsters about environmental issues. The speech “Inspirational speech about the environment at the United Nations” took place in the Plenary Session, Earth Summit, Brazil.