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You're listening to how to be

You're listening to how to be a better human. I'm your host Chris Duffy. I don't know about you, but when I think about protecting the environment and combating climate change,

I'm mostly thinking about reducing my own emissions, being mindful of waste, trying to advocate for cleaner energy, things like that.

I don't often think about justice or land rights.

But as today's guest, the human rights lawyer, Nenet Royal passionately argues, some of the most

important and effective policies are exactly those.

If we care about protecting the planet, we should be advocating for indigenous people to own and control the land that they have lived on for generations.

That is Nunnette's belief and she has been working on this fight for years.

As you'll hear, she and her community have literally put their lives on the line.

But she has also built a legal framework in an international organization that any of us can get involved with and all of us can learn from.

Here's a clip from her TED Talk.

Over 20 years ago in my own hometown in southern Philippines,

indigenous peoples, activists all put their own lives

on the line as fighters. They protect their forests against illegal

loggers, companies and miners who want to take their land. My own Fiancae, a brave indigenous young man, was skilled in that fight.

For years I thought I was a coward.

Unlike my fiancé, I chose the pen, not the gun.

I chose to set up a legal defense organization,

stood with brave indigenous women and men as

barefoot lawyers. I struggled between hope and fear when they asked,

...