Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future

generation A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...

s are contrasted with current and past generations and evoked in order to encourage thinking about

intergenerational equity Intergenerational equity in economic, psychological, and sociological contexts, is the idea of Social justice, fairness or justice between generations. The concept can be applied to fairness in dynamics between children, youth, adults, and Old a ...

. The

moral patienthood Moral patienthood (also called moral patience, moral patiency, and moral status) is the state of being eligible for moral consideration by a moral agent. In other words, the morality of an action can depend on how it affects or relates to moral p ...

of future generations has been argued for extensively among

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

s, and is thought of as an important, neglected cause by the

effective altruism Effective altruism (EA) is a 21st-century philosophical and social movement that advocates impartially calculating benefits and prioritizing causes to provide the greatest good. It is motivated by "using evidence and reason to figure out how to b ...

community. The term is often used in describing the conservation or preservation of

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

natural heritage Natural heritage refers to the sum total of the elements of biodiversity, includes flora and fauna, ecosystems and geological structures. It forms part of our natural resources. Definition Definitions: * Natural heritage refers to natural feat ...

. The

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

and

climate movement The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action (also called ''climate action'') addressing the causes and Effects of climate change, impacts of climate change. Citizens and environme ...

s have adopted the concept as a tool for enshrining principles of long-term thinking into law. The concept is often connected to indigenous thinking as a principle for ecological action, such as the seven generation concept attributed to Iroquois tradition.

Sources

The term refers to the impact which the currently living generation has on the world which future generations will live in, the world they will inherit from humans living today. This concept is referred to in the most widely quoted definition of

as a part of the concept

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

, is that of the

Brundtland Commission The Brundtland Commission, formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development, was a sub-organization of the United Nations (UN) that aimed to unite countries in pursuit of sustainable development. It was founded in 1983 when Javier Pér ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

on March 20, (1987): "sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The use of future generations in international law is in part recognized by the

Charter of the United Nations The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the United Nations (UN). It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the UN system, including its six principal organs: the Secretariat, the G ...

which focuses on preventing the "scourge of war" on future generations. With the publication of

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

's landmark Our Common Agenda report in September 2021, there has been a renewed interest in understanding, action for, and representing future generations in the multilateral system.

UNESCO declaration

Economics

The financial state of people in future generations is widely debated. However, a study in 2022 revealed that a majority of people believe that the financial state of future generations will be worse than their current state. Adults were interviewed in 19 countries (Japan, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia, United States, Belgium, Greece, Netherlands, South Korea, Germany, Malaysia, Hungary, Sweden, Poland, Singapore, and Israel), and the adults in almost every country agreed that the financial state of future generations would be worse. The 19-country median was 70-27-3 (worse-better-same). The Pew Research Center was responsible for conducting the survey.

Legal rights of future generations

Most implementations of future generations focus on enshrining the rights and needs of future generations in law, in order to represent those unable to voice their needs. Several countries have tried enshrining obligations to future generations in law. In

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, this moral obligation is encoded as a legal duty in the

Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (anaw 2) () is an Act of the National Assembly for Wales that was given royal assent on 29 April 2015; it came into force in April 2016. It set out seven well-being goals: i) a prosperous Wale ...

and in the role of the Future Generations Commissioner. The first commissioner

Sophie Howe Sophie Howe (born c. 1977) was the first Future Generations Commissioner for Wales from 2016 to January 2023. She had previously been a local councillor and worked as a special political advisor and deputy police and crime commissioner to Alu ...

modeled the role, proposing a number of new policies designed for future-thinking policy in Wales, including a 2020 ''Manifesto for the Future''. Similarly in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

the office of the Hungarian Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations was established in 2008. While in the United Kingdom, an informal cross-party parliamentary group has been established to discuss issues around future generations.

Climate litigation

The rights of future generations are increasingly being protected in legal precedents as part of the global trends in climate litigation. Future generations were the defendant in the critical defendants in a 2018 case '' Future Generations v. Ministry of the Environment and Others'' in Colombia which protected the Amazon rainforest basin for future generations.

In popular culture

The rights of future generations were the inspiration for the principle plot device in

Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has ...

's ''

The Ministry for the Future ''The Ministry for the Future'' is a climate fiction ("cli-fi") novel by American science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson published in 2020. Set in the near future, the novel follows a subsidiary body, established under the Paris Agreement, ...

.''

References

{{Generation Cultural generations Futures studies