In March this year, World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy, the Climate Governance Commission and 28 cosponsoring organizations launched Mobilizing an Earth Governance Alliance (MEGA) to build cooperation and advocacy on global governance mechanisms to protect the planet.
One of the proposals included in the MEGA platform is for the Appointment of a UN Special Envoy for Future Generations and establishment of similar representatives for future generations at all governance levels. This proposal received a huge boost on October 7 at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference when Guy Ryder, UN Under-Secretary-General for Policy, announced that the UN Secretary-General will indeed establish such a position.
Purpose of a UN Special Envoy and related institutional representatives
The purpose of establishing a UN Envoy for Future Generations and other Institutional Representatives of Future Generations at all levels of governance, is to ensure that decision-making today takes into consideration the needs, well-being and rights of generations to come.
There are already examples of institutional representatives for future generations at local, national and regional levels, such as the Oxfordshire Future Generations Champion, Hungary Ombudsperson for Future Generations, Malta Guardian of Future Generations, Wales Future Generations Commissioner, Gibraltar Commissioner for Sustainable Development &Future Generations and Lithuania Parliament Committe of the Future. Until now, no such representative at a global, multilateral level has been established.
In his 2021 Our Common Agenda report the UN Secretary-General proposed the establishment of a UN Special Envoy for Future Generations, drawing from work on this idea by organizations including World Future Council (WFC), and by interest expressed by UN member states at various forums including the 2012 Rio Earth Summit.
A UN Envoy for Future Generations: Responding to demands from civil society and like-minded governments
“By appointing a Special Envoy on Future Generations, the Secretary General is answering the demands from governments, political leaders like Mary Robinson, civil society organizations, and a growing community of futures and foresight practitioners within the UN,” says Daouia Chalali, Project Coordinator of Future of Climate Cooperation for the Summit of the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations. “As described in Our Common Agenda, the Envoy will be a steward for those who will suffer the consequences of our (in)actions, a home for the pioneers leading on long-term governance, and an amplifier of a decade-long experience in innovative policies.”
Progress at the Summit of the Future
The 2024 UN Summit of the Future provided an opportunity to build traction for this proposal, undertaken through promotion to the Summit by the Earth Governance ImPACT Coalition and Future Generations ImPACT Coalition which were established at the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference in Nairobi, and others including the World Future Council, WFM-IGP, Future of Climate Cooperation and the Office of the Wales Future Generations Commissioner.
Education and advocacy events leading up to the Summit included submissions to the facilitators of the Pact for the Future (Germany and Namibia), lobbying like-minded governments, the global webinar Protecting the Rights and Wellbeing of Future Generations through Institutional Representatives organized by WFM-IGP, and the UN Summit of the Future Action Day event A Seat at the Table: Why Future Generations Need Institutional Representation organized by the World Future Council.
This advocacy helped build traction and ensure that the proposal was noted in the Declaration on Future Generations which was adopted at the Summit of the Future.
“Appointment of a UN Special Envoy on Future Generations is a key step forward in our longer journey of achieving principles of Sustainable Development, Intergenerational Equity and Earth Trusteeship at the multilateral level,” says Neshan Gunasekera, Visiting Fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and Member of the World Future Council delegation to the Hamburg Sustainability Conference.
“The ImPACT Coalition for Future Generations has championed the need for a UN special envoy for future generations and welcomes the news that this will be realised,” says Jacob Ellis, Director for External Relations and Culture at the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and Co-lead of the ImPACT Coalition for Future Generations. “Drawing on the extensive learning on representatives for future generations globally, and the expertise of our members, the coalition looks forward to supporting in the development and design of this role and in its wider remit.“
“As a proud Welshman, I am also excited that Wales’ leadership of legislating for future generations and establishing an independent Future Generations Commissioner for Wales was of inspiration for this role,” continues Mr Ellis. “We look forward to continue sharing our10 years of experience with the UN, as this role is brought to fruition.”
Hamburg Conference: First follow-up to the UN Summit for the Future
The announcement made at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference committing to establishing a UN Envoy for Future Generations is one of the first policy actions by the UNSG in follow-up to the Summit of the Future. It reflects confidence from the UNSG that there is enough global support to establish this important position.
For further background, please see:
- Ensuring UN Resilience through a Special Envoy for Future Generations, by Erica Wilson and Alyn Ware, Mondial Summer 2024 edition;
- Coming soon: a UN Envoy for Future Generations, Adam Day, United Nations University, October 9, 2024
- Appointment of a UN Envoy on Future Generations, World Future Council, October 9, 2024.
- Options for an Envoy for Future Generations, Future of Climate Cooperation.
- Declaration on Future Generations adopted at the UN Summit of the Future, Sep 22, 2024
