Our Common Agenda Summit of the Future Policy Brief 1: "To Think and Act for Future Generations"

The present policy brief contains suggestions for practical steps to fulfil our long-standing commitment to meet the demands of the present in a way that safeguards the interests of future generations and preserves their ability to effectively enjoy all human rights. These include 

a) an envoy to serve as a voice for future generations at the global level; 

b) better use of foresight, science and data; c) a declaration to define and make concrete our duties to future generations; and 

d) a dedicated intergovernmental forum to advance implementation of the declaration and share best practices. 

These suggestions build on Our Common Agenda and subsequent intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder consultations, reflected in the “Elements paper for the declaration for future generations”, prepared by the Permanent Missions of Fiji and the Netherlands to the United Nations.

The brief responds to the questions raised by Member States during the consultations, including how to define future generations, how to balance our commitment to them with our duties to present generations, how the proposals advance our existing goals for sustainable development, gender, and human rights, and what outcomes are recommended for the Summit of the Future on this issue. The logic underpinning these proposals is simple. 

What we do for future generations is also what we need to do for ourselves, which is to take challenges and opportunities that lie in the future far more seriously than we currently do. We know we are capable of far-sighted collective action, as the successful restoration of the ozone layer demonstrates. On the other hand, we would be much closer to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals today if we had taken more serious action to limit global temperature rise or invest in pan demic preparedness.

 There is no trade-off between meeting the needs of the present and taking into account the needs of the future. On the contrary: there is no solution to the problems of the present that does not take a longer-term perspective. Conscious efforts to consider the future will leave all generations better off.