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I'm Elise Hugh, you're listening to TED Talks Daily.

Ideas that are thousands of years old or... At least Hugh, you're listening to TED Talks Daily.

Ideas that are thousands of years old are still around for a reason.

An environmental activist Gopal D. Patel finds they can be used to help maintain momentum in the fight against climate change.

In his 2023 talk from the TED countdown summit, Patel shares a spiritual framework

for relating to nature and each other in this fight to save the planet.

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I'm going to start with a story. In 1730 in India, the King of Jodpur wanted to build a new palace,

and he needed a large number of trees to be cut.

Alarmed at hearing this, a group of local environmental activists

went to protect the trees by throwing their arms around them.

We could consider them the first ever tree huggers.

Now while this story might be known to many of us, what's often less known

is what motivated these activists. They came from the Bishnoi community, a Hindu lineage founded on 29 principles of environmental care.

This is just one of so many amazing examples throughout the world

of religious communities stepping up

...