28 Feb 2026
Working for future generations
Back in 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development released a report called Our Comon Future. It’s often remembered for popularizing the term sustainable development but it’s aim was to get people to leave a healthy and productive environment for future generations. Who is watching out for those future generations? In Wales it is the future generations commissioner, someone pushing people “…to make decisions in the best interests of people who aren’t born yet.” The role is set out in the 2015 Well-being of Future Generations Act which established a legal obligation “…to improve our social, cultural, environmental and economic well-being.” The job of the commissioner is to, “Promote the sustainable development principle, in particular to act as a guardian of the ability of future generations to meet their needs and encourage public bodies to take greater account of the long-term impact of the things they do.” In most countries responsibility for a shift to sustainable development is scattered among government departments and there is no single person given the role to speak for the young and those not even born. What Wales has done could be a model for countries willing to take the interests of future generations seriously.