Since 2009, the World Future Council (WFC), a MEGA cosponsoring organization, has organized the annual World Future Policy Awards, a prestigious prize celebrating top policy solutions on a specific issue which impacts on current and future generations. WFC evaluates around 40-50 nominated laws and policies, each of which has been adopted and implemented by local, national, regional or global authorities for at least two years. An independent international jury then decides the winning policies.
In 2025, the topic was Living in Harmony with Nature and Future Generations. The award was organized in cooperation withthe Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The eight winning policies were announced at a special ceremony at the IUCN Congress in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) on October 11. The policies included a global impact award, a vision award and 6 World Future Policy Awards.
Global Impact Award: Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act, Aotearoa New Zealand (2017)
Vision Award: BBNJ (Biological Diversity of Marine Areas beyond National Jurisdiction) Agreement (2023)
World Future Policy Awards:
- Tyrol (Austria) Environmental Ombudsoffice (1991)
- Bhutan Biodiversity Act (2003, amended 2022)
- Panama Law 287, which recognises the Rights of Nature and the related obligations of the State with these rights, (2022)
- South Africa National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (2004)
- Spanish Law 19/2022 Granting Mar Menor and its basin status of a legal person (2022)
- Uganda National Environment Act (2019)
“These groundbreaking frameworks tackle today’s urgent environmental challenges while safeguarding the wellbeing of future generations,” says Neshan Gunasekera, CEO of the World Future Council. “They recognise the legal rights of Nature and ecosystems, embed principles such as Earth Trusteeship and Indigenous wisdom, and place intergenerational justice at the heart of decision-making. The laws make an outstanding contribution to the well-being of present and future generations of all living beings on Earth.”
“This year’s World Future Policy Award winners are a testament to the power of law to forge a sustainable and just future,” stated Dr Grethel Aguilar, Director General of the IUCN. “These pioneering policies, which draw from the wisdom of Indigenous and local knowledge systems, set a new standard for living in harmony with nature and future generations. We are proud to celebrate them at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, as we join forces to work together to shape a just world that values and conserves nature.”
The winning policies demonstrate effective environmental governance at local, national, regional and/or global levels, and relate very closely to the environmental governance proposals and campaigns being advanced by MEGA.
Institutional Representatives for Future Generations
The Environmental Ombudsoffice of Tyrol, for example, connects with MEGA’s promotion of a UN Special Envoy for Future Generations and similar institutional representatives for future generations at all governance levels.
The Environmental Ombudsoffice of Tyrol is an institutionalised environmental Ombudsperson mandated to represent nature and the public interest in environmental protection matters in Tyrol, Austria. Introduced originally in the 1990s and legally embedded in the Tiroler Naturschutzgesetz 2005, the Ombudsoffice serves as an independent body participating in official approval procedures concerning environmental impact and informing and advising citizens.
Last year, the Wales Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, which established a Future Generations Commissioner, was honoured as one of the winners of the World Future Policy Awards on Peace and Future Generations.
The Tyrol and Wales examples provide excellent examples institutional representatives for nature and future generations that other authorities around the world can emulate. And they help the campaign to establish a UN Envoy for Future Generations, which the UN Secretary-General has announced, but is struggling to get sufficient support to establish quickly.
Earth Trusteeship
The Spanish Law 19/2022 Granting Mar Menor and its basin status of a legal person, Panama’s Law which recognises the Rights of Nature, and the Te Awa Tupua Act from Aotearoa New Zealand exemplify effective policies of the MEGA supported Earth Trusteeship campaign.
Earth Trusteeship is a legal and political framework in which natural entities are not owned by anyone, but which are managed under a ‘trusteeship’ to ensure their sustainability.
This could include rivers, lakes, mountains, forests, national parks, national common areas or trans-national regions such as the global commons, which includes the oceans, atmosphere, outer space, seabed and Antarctica.
The Spanish, Panama and New Zealand examples demonstrate that Earth Trusteeship can work effectively to ensure that economic uses of natural areas can be done in harmony with indigenous rights and wisdom, spiritual values and ecological wellbeing for the common good of humanity and the environment, and for current and future generations.
“The winning policies show us that Earth trusteeship is not just a theoretical concept but is already being applied in many countries,” says Samia Kassid, World Future Council Lead for the 2025 World Future P:olicy Award. “I was impressed by the personal commitment and sacrifices of many individuals who are passionate about preserving and protecting our Nature and biodiversity. This is especially remarkable as these efforts are being undertaken during a nuanced challenging period.”
Subsidiarity principle and accountability
Finally, the Biodiversity Acts of Bhutan and South Africa, and the Vision Award to the international Biological Diversity of Marine Areas beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement (BBNJ) demonstrate two important principles of environmental governance which are being advanced by MEGA. One is the subsidiarity principle which holds that social and political issues should be governed at the most immediate or local level that is sufficient for their resolution. The other is the principle of accountability, which ensures that local and national governments implement their obligations under international norms and agreements.
The Biodiversity Acts of Bhutan and South Africa are examples of effective implementation by national governments in the territories under their jurisdiction of international norms and obligations. The BBNJ addresses the same issue of biodiversity, but as applied to areas of global commons which require international cooperation to protect.
“The emerging scientific understanding of Earth’s ecosystems is that they are indeed global and not divided by territorial borders,” says Alyn Ware, Program Officer for Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA). “As such the interplay between national policies and global cooperation – governed by effective international agreements and accountability mechanisms – has become imperative. These winning biodiversity policies – two at national level and one an international agreement – point the way to better cooperative governance of the earth to ensure a healthy planet and a thriving future.”
For more information see:
- Eight Pioneering Policies on Living in Harmony With Nature Win the World Future Policy Award 2025, WFC Press release
- Living in Harmony with Nature and Future Generations, Online resource for the 2025 World Future Policy Awards
Neshan Gunasekera, CEO of the World Future Council, introducing the 2025 World Future Policy Awards. The award ceremony was dedicated to Jane Goodall, WFC Honorary Councillor, who passed away on October 1, 2025
