Future generations

Future generations are the generations of people to come in the future, after the currently living generations of humans. The future generation is contrasted with current and past generations.

For the BBC TV charity programme, see Future Generations.

The moral patienthood of future generations has been argued for extensively among philosophers, and is thought of as an important, neglected cause by the effective altruism community.[1]

The term started to be used in reference 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 sustainability as a part of the concept sustainable development, is that of the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations 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.”[2][3]

In Wales, this moral obligation is encoded as a legal duty in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and in the role of the Future Generations Commissioner.[4] Similarly in Hungary the office of the Hungarian Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations was established in 2008.[5]

See also

References
  1. Benjamin Todd. "Future generations and their moral significance". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  2. United Nations General Assembly (1987) Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future. Transmitted to the General Assembly as an Annex to document A/42/427 - Development and International Co-operation: Environment. Retrieved on: 2009-02-15.
  3. United Nations General Assembly (March 20, 1987). "Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future; Transmitted to the General Assembly as an Annex to document A/42/427 - Development and International Co-operation: Environment; Our Common Future, Chapter 2: Towards Sustainable Development; Paragraph 1". United Nations General Assembly. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  4. "Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015" (PDF). 17 June 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  5. Futurepolicy.org, Hungarian Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations, accessed 21 September 2019


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