Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans
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0:02 - 0:05Aquay Wunne Kesuk.
Kelsey Leonard Nooweesuonk. -
0:06 - 0:08Hello, good day, everyone.
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0:08 - 0:10I'm from the Shinnecock Nation.
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0:10 - 0:13Tabutni to the Cahuilla peoples,
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0:13 - 0:15whose land we gather on today.
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0:16 - 0:20I was taught that water is alive.
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0:20 - 0:21It can hear,
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0:21 - 0:23it holds memories.
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0:23 - 0:26And so I brought a water vessel
up with me today, -
0:26 - 0:30because I want it to hold the memories
of our conversation today. -
0:32 - 0:34Who gets legal rights?
-
0:35 - 0:40History has shown us
some people but not others. -
0:40 - 0:44In the United States,
Indigenous peoples like myself -
0:44 - 0:47were not citizens
under the law until 1924. -
0:48 - 0:50My Shinnecock ancestors, pictured here,
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0:50 - 0:53were not citizens under the law.
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0:54 - 1:00Then why do we claim to be nations
governed by the rule of law -
1:00 - 1:04if some people are protected,
but not others? -
1:04 - 1:09Because it remains one
of the best ways to fight injustice. -
1:09 - 1:14And, as Indigenous people,
we know injustice. -
1:15 - 1:20A dear friend, mentor, water walker,
-
1:20 - 1:23Nokomis, Grandmother
Josephine Mandamin-ba, -
1:23 - 1:27she told me of a prophecy
that comes from her people, -
1:27 - 1:29the Anishinaabe of the Midewiwin Society.
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1:30 - 1:32And in that prophecy,
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1:32 - 1:35she told me that it tells
of a day that will come -
1:35 - 1:39where an ounce of water
costs more than an ounce of gold. -
1:41 - 1:45When she told me that prophecy,
I sat for a moment, -
1:45 - 1:51and I thought about all of the injustices
we see in our world today, -
1:51 - 1:55the water crises we see
in our world today, -
1:55 - 1:58and I said, "Nokomis, Grandmother,
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1:58 - 2:01I feel like we are already
in that time of prophecy." -
2:02 - 2:04And she looked back at me directly,
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2:04 - 2:05and she said,
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2:05 - 2:08"So what are you going to do about it?"
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2:08 - 2:11That's why I'm here with you today,
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2:11 - 2:14because I believe
that one of the many solutions -
2:14 - 2:18to solving the many water injustices
we see in our world today -
2:18 - 2:21is recognizing that water
is a living relation -
2:21 - 2:24and granting it the legal
personhood it deserves. -
2:25 - 2:31So to do so, we need to transform
the way in which we value water. -
2:31 - 2:35We have to start to think
about how do we connect to water. -
2:36 - 2:38Usually, someone might ask you,
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2:38 - 2:40"What is water?"
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2:40 - 2:46and you would respond
with "Rain, ocean, lake, river, -
2:46 - 2:48H20, liquid."
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2:48 - 2:52You might even understand
the sacred essentiality of water -
2:52 - 2:55and say that water is life.
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2:56 - 2:59But what if I asked you, instead,
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2:59 - 3:01"Who is water?"
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3:01 - 3:05In the same way that I might ask you,
"Who is your grandmother?" -
3:05 - 3:07"Who is your sister?"
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3:08 - 3:10That type of orientation
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3:10 - 3:13fundamentally transforms the way
in which we think about water, -
3:13 - 3:16transforms the way
in which we make decisions -
3:16 - 3:18about how we might protect water,
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3:18 - 3:21protect it in the way that you
would protect your grandmother, -
3:21 - 3:23your mother, your sister, your aunties.
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3:24 - 3:26That is the type of transformation
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3:26 - 3:29that we need if we are going to address
the many water crises we see -
3:29 - 3:31in our world today,
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3:31 - 3:33these harrowing water crises
-
3:33 - 3:35that have streamed
across our digital devices -
3:35 - 3:37in countdowns to Day Zero,
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3:37 - 3:41the point at which municipal
water supplies are shut off. -
3:42 - 3:44Places like Cape Town, South Africa,
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3:44 - 3:46where in 2018,
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3:46 - 3:49residents were limited
to two-minute showers -
3:49 - 3:52and 23 gallons of water
per day per person, -
3:52 - 3:56or just this past summer,
where the mismanagement of water -
3:56 - 3:58led the streets of Chennai
-
3:58 - 4:02to be lined with thousands
of plastic water jugs -
4:02 - 4:06as residents waited hours
for water tankers -
4:06 - 4:09to deliver water,
first by rail, then by truck, -
4:09 - 4:11to meet their daily needs.
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4:11 - 4:14Or even here in the United States,
-
4:14 - 4:16one of the most developed
nations in the world. -
4:16 - 4:21Today, Flint, Michigan
still does not have clean water. -
4:21 - 4:25But you are likely unfamiliar
with these water crises, -
4:25 - 4:28such as Neskantaga First Nation
in Northern Ontario, Canada, -
4:28 - 4:33where residents have been
on a boil water advisory since 1995. -
4:33 - 4:35Or Grassy Narrows First Nation,
-
4:35 - 4:39which for decades has been dealing
with water contamination -
4:39 - 4:40from the paper mill industry
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4:40 - 4:42and where a recent study found
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4:42 - 4:45that nearly 90 percent
of the Indigenous population -
4:45 - 4:47has some form of mercury poisoning,
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4:47 - 4:49causing severe health complications.
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4:50 - 4:52Or even among the Navajo Nation.
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4:52 - 4:57Pictured here is the Animas River
on an early morning in 2015, -
4:57 - 4:59prior to the Gold King Mine spill.
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5:00 - 5:04After the spill leaked millions
of hazardous mine waste -
5:04 - 5:05into the river system,
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5:05 - 5:07this was it later that day.
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5:08 - 5:10Today, the Navajo Nation
and the Diné People -
5:10 - 5:15and the river itself are still
trying to recover from contamination. -
5:16 - 5:19Or even right here
in Palm Springs, California, -
5:19 - 5:22where the Agua Caliente Band
of Cahuilla Indians -
5:22 - 5:26has been fighting for decades
to protect groundwater from exploitation -
5:26 - 5:28so that future generations
-
5:28 - 5:31can not only live but thrive
in their homelands, -
5:31 - 5:34as they have since time immemorial.
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5:34 - 5:38You see, a recent study
by DIGDEEP and the US Water Alliance -
5:38 - 5:42found that race, in the United States,
-
5:42 - 5:45is the strongest predictor
of water and sanitation access, -
5:45 - 5:47and that for us,
-
5:47 - 5:48as Native American people,
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5:48 - 5:53we are the group most likely
to have access issues -
5:53 - 5:55as it comes to water and sanitation.
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5:56 - 6:00So, as an Indigenous
legal scholar and scientist, -
6:00 - 6:02I believe that many
of these water injustices -
6:02 - 6:06are the result of the Western
legal system's failure to recognize -
6:06 - 6:08the legal personhood of water.
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6:09 - 6:11And so we must ask ourselves --
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6:11 - 6:13who is justice for?
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6:14 - 6:16Humanity alone?
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6:17 - 6:20We've granted legal personhood
to corporations. -
6:20 - 6:23In the US, the Supreme Court
found in "Citizens United" -
6:23 - 6:25that a corporation was a person
-
6:25 - 6:27with similar protections
under the Constitution, -
6:27 - 6:29such as freedom of speech,
-
6:29 - 6:32and applied similar reasoning
in "Hobby Lobby," -
6:32 - 6:35finding that a corporation
had the right to freedom of religion -
6:35 - 6:38in defense against the implementation
of the Affordable Care Act -
6:38 - 6:39for its employees.
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6:40 - 6:43Now, these are controversial cases,
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6:43 - 6:47and as a Shinnecock woman
and a legal scholar, -
6:47 - 6:50they make me question
the moral compass of the Western world, -
6:50 - 6:54where you can grant legal
personhood to a corporation -
6:55 - 6:56but not nature.
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6:56 - 6:59You see, legal personhood
grants us the ability -
6:59 - 7:02to be visible in a court of law,
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7:02 - 7:05and to have our voices heard
as a person protected under the law. -
7:06 - 7:09And so if you can grant that
to a corporation, -
7:10 - 7:12why not the Great Lakes?
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7:13 - 7:15Why not the Mississippi River?
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7:16 - 7:21Why not the many waterways
across our planet -
7:21 - 7:24that we all depend on to survive?
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7:26 - 7:29We know we are in a global climate crisis,
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7:29 - 7:33but globally, our waters
are also threatened, -
7:33 - 7:36and we are facing a global water crisis,
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7:36 - 7:40and if we want to address
these crises in our lifetime, -
7:40 - 7:41we need to change.
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7:41 - 7:45We need to fundamentally transform
the way in which we value water. -
7:47 - 7:51And this is not something new
for us as Indigenous peoples. -
7:51 - 7:55Our Indigenous legal systems
have a foundational principle -
7:55 - 7:58of understanding our nonhuman relations
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7:58 - 8:01as being living and protected
under our laws. -
8:01 - 8:03And even for the Western world,
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8:03 - 8:05environmental legal theorists
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8:05 - 8:08have argued for the rights of nature
since the 1970s. -
8:09 - 8:11But we need to do better.
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8:11 - 8:13We need to change.
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8:13 - 8:16And we need to grant
legal personhood to water, -
8:16 - 8:18because it affords the following
rights and protections. -
8:18 - 8:21It grants water the right to exist,
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8:21 - 8:23flourish, and naturally evolve,
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8:23 - 8:26and most of all,
it protects the water from us, -
8:26 - 8:29from human beings that would do it harm,
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8:29 - 8:31from human-caused climate-change impacts,
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8:31 - 8:32from pollutants,
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8:32 - 8:34and from man-made contamination.
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8:34 - 8:38Moreover, it reverses
the accepted hierarchy -
8:38 - 8:41of humanity's domination over nature.
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8:42 - 8:43As human beings on this planet,
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8:43 - 8:47we are not superior
to other beings on this planet. -
8:48 - 8:51We are not superior to the water itself.
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8:52 - 8:56We have to learn
how to be good stewards again. -
8:56 - 9:01We often imagine that the world
is filled with infinite water. -
9:01 - 9:02In fact, it's not.
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9:03 - 9:05This planet, Ohke, Mother Earth,
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9:05 - 9:08has very finite freshwater resources.
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9:08 - 9:11Currently, nearly two billion people
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9:11 - 9:14live in countries experiencing
high water stress. -
9:15 - 9:18It is also estimated that by 2030,
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9:18 - 9:22up to 700 million people
could be displaced, worldwide, -
9:22 - 9:24due to water scarcity.
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9:25 - 9:27We have to address this crisis.
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9:28 - 9:30And so it's time for us to change.
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9:30 - 9:33We have to transform
the way in which we value water. -
9:33 - 9:34And we can do that.
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9:34 - 9:37We can learn to be good stewards again.
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9:37 - 9:41We can create laws through which
we grant legal personhood to water. -
9:41 - 9:44We can start to honor
the original treaties -
9:44 - 9:47between Indigenous peoples
and non-Indigenous peoples -
9:47 - 9:48for water protection.
-
9:48 - 9:51We can appoint guardians for the water
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9:51 - 9:55that ensure the water's rights
are always protected. -
9:55 - 9:58We can also develop
water-quality standards -
9:58 - 10:00that have a holistic approach,
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10:00 - 10:04that ensure the well-being of the water
before our human needs. -
10:04 - 10:11And moreover, we can work to dismantle
exclusive property ownership over water. -
10:12 - 10:17And there are amazing successful examples
of this around the world. -
10:18 - 10:20The Whanganui River in Aotearoa,
in New Zealand, -
10:20 - 10:22and the Ganges River in India
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10:22 - 10:24were both granted
legal personhood in 2017. -
10:24 - 10:26And even this year,
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10:26 - 10:28the residents of the city of Toledo
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10:28 - 10:31recognized the legal
personality of Lake Erie. -
10:31 - 10:34And right here in California,
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10:34 - 10:37the Yurok Tribe granted legal personhood
to the Klamath River. -
10:39 - 10:43You see, I imagine a world
where we value water -
10:43 - 10:45as a living relation,
-
10:46 - 10:50where we work to restore
our connection to water. -
10:51 - 10:54As women, we are water carriers.
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10:54 - 10:57We nurture water
in our wombs for nine months. -
10:57 - 11:00It's the first medicine
that each of us as human beings -
11:00 - 11:01is exposed to.
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11:02 - 11:07See, we are all born as human beings
with a natal connection to water, -
11:07 - 11:11but somewhere along the way,
we lost that connection, -
11:11 - 11:13and we have to work to restore it.
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11:13 - 11:15Because I imagine a world
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11:15 - 11:19in which water is healthy
and ecosystems are thriving. -
11:20 - 11:22I imagine a world
-
11:22 - 11:25where each of us takes up
our right of responsibility -
11:25 - 11:27as water citizens
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11:27 - 11:29and protects water.
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11:30 - 11:34So, in the words of Nokomis,
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11:34 - 11:36what are you going to do about it?
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11:36 - 11:39What are you going to do for the water?
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11:40 - 11:43Well, you can call your local politician.
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11:43 - 11:44You can go to a town meeting.
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11:44 - 11:48You can advocate for granting
legal personhood to water. -
11:48 - 11:51You can be like the residents
of the city of Toledo -
11:51 - 11:53and build from the grass roots,
-
11:53 - 11:56and craft your own legislation
if the politicians won't write it, -
11:56 - 11:59recognizing legal personality of water.
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11:59 - 12:04You can learn about the Indigenous lands
and waters that you now occupy -
12:04 - 12:07and the Indigenous legal systems
that still govern them. -
12:08 - 12:10And most of all, you can connect to water.
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12:10 - 12:12You can restore that connection.
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12:12 - 12:14Go to the water closest to your home,
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12:14 - 12:17and find out why it is threatened.
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12:18 - 12:20But most of all, if you do anything,
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12:20 - 12:23I ask that you make a promise to yourself,
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12:23 - 12:26that each day, you will ask,
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12:26 - 12:28"What have I done for the water today?"
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12:30 - 12:33If we are able to fulfill that promise,
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12:33 - 12:38I believe we can create a bold
and brilliant world -
12:38 - 12:41where future generations are able to form
-
12:41 - 12:47the same relationship to water
that we have been privileged to have, -
12:48 - 12:54where all communities
of human and nonhuman relations -
12:54 - 12:56have water to live,
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12:56 - 12:58because water is life.
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12:59 - 13:00Tabutni. Thank you.
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13:00 - 13:07(Applause)
- Title:
- Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans
- Speaker:
- Kelsey Leonard
- Description:
-
Water is essential to life. Yet in the eyes of the law, it remains largely unprotected -- leaving many communities without access to safe drinking water, says legal scholar Kelsey Leonard. In this powerful talk, she shows why granting lakes and rivers legal "personhood" -- giving them the same legal rights as humans -- is the first step to protecting our bodies of water and fundamentally transforming how we value this vital resource.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 13:21
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans | ||
Erin Gregory approved English subtitles for Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans |