A campaign to formally require ministers to consider how their policies will affect the economic, cultural, physical and environmental wellbeing of future generations will be heard in parliament.
The Government would have to appoint a “future generations commissioner” to oversee policy with the power to censure public and private bodies which did not meet their commitments to long-term wellbeing.
Britain’s only Green MP Caroline Lucas and the founder of the Big Issue Lord Bird have joined forces to urge the Government to consider future generations in policy-making.
The Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill, introduced by Lord Bird and sponsored by Ms Lucas, aims to enshrine a commitment to the wellbeing of future generations within legislation, appointing a dedicated commissioner and setting targets for public bodies and private companies.
The Bill is scheduled to have its second reading in the Commons on January 29. A similar piece of legislation was passed by the Welsh Assembly in 2015. Ms Lucas and Lord Bird have urged the public to write to their local MPs to ask them to support the Bill.
Ms Lucas said: “The decisions taken today shape the future and it is time that the wellbeing of future generations was hardwired into policy-making.”
Lord Bird said: “The pandemic has shown we need more long-term thinking and planning. If passed into law, the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill will help tackle the climate crisis, poverty, pandemics and much more.
“Our Today for Tomorrow campaign seeks to embed long-termism, prevention and the interests of future generations at the heart of UK policy-making.”
