Give the future a voice

Our politicians knew there was a significant risk of a deadly pandemic even before 2020, but yet we were not prepared. This animal-bought lesson notwithstanding, so we invest still not enough in pandemic preparedness.

The budget of the FHI is now back to pre-pandemic levels. Climate is another example of short-term priorities. We are not close to reaching adopted goals of reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Short-term political priorities today risk destroying the livelihoods of future generations, but without them themselves being able to advance their interests. To correct this injustice, we propose to give the future a voice, by saying that Norway create a future agent.

When politicians make decisions that go beyond our interests, we can protest and quash them at the next election. Future generations will not have this opportunity. They also can't speak up, and rely on others to represent them when their interests are at stake.

In 1981, Norway was the first country in the world to create a children's ombudsman, a competent and independent body to promote the interests of a group that cannot do so on its own. The Ombudsman for Children has since contributed to a number of legislative changes, including the law banning the use of violence against children.

More than 35 countries have followed Norway's example and established similar arrangements. Now we propose a similar scheme, but for our child's children, and their children. For the whole future.

Despite great uncertainty about exactly what preferences and needs future generations will have, there are several things we can safely assume. For example, if we do not deal with climate change, we will risk life-threatening heat, droughts and floods, global food supply failures, large refugee flows, enormous costs of climate adaptation, and so on. And if we don't invest enough in pandemic preparedness, more people will suffer or die in the future.

One may object that it is undemocratic to establish an independent body with such a broad remit. But a future representative will not take power away from elected officials — it will influence political processes through input, investigations and public representation.

We all wish the best for our children and grandchildren, but an ombudsman of the future would promote values we are easy to forget. By representing a legitimate but neglected interest in democracy, an ombudsman will make our society more democratic, no less.

To ensure the well-being of future generations, we depend on a strengthened commitment to climate action, pandemic preparedness and responsible development of new technologies — and much more.

Norway cannot handle this alone. Fortunately, other countries have already established institutions with a mandate to safeguard the interests of the future, which can act as partners internationally.

In Finland, The Parliamentary Committee on the Future existed since 1993. In Wales, giving Commissioner for Future Generations advice to public institutions on how they can act in line with legislation that obliges public institutions to think about the long-term consequences of current decisions.

The rights of future generations are also discussed at the top level of the United Nations. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has proposed the establishment of a”United Nations Special Envoy for Future Generations“And one is being planned.”Summit of the Future“— a summit on the future — in 2024.

Norway should lead the way in this development, as we did in the work with children. By making Norwegian policy more long-term, as we advocate in a recent note, we can also inspire other countries to do more. It will also benefit us.

In 1987, the Brundtland Commission wrote: “We act as we do because we escape with impunity from it. Future generations do not have the right to vote in our elections; they have no political or economic power; they cannot go against our decisions.”

The words are as relevant today as they were in 1987. It is time to create an agency of the future.