Giving Future Generations a Voice: Normative Frameworks, Institutions and Practice

Global environmental crises and reactions against short-term thinking have spawned new institutions aimed at giving a voice to future generations in policy-making, such as dedicated commissioners. This book looks at why we need such institutions using approaches from ethics, human rights, sustainable development, intergenerational justice and administrative law. How to design such institutions to maximise their effectiveness, operating principles for such institutions, and case studies from around the world are canvassed. A range of reform proposals are also explored, including mainstreaming future generations’ voices in parliamentary processes, commissioners for future generations, human rights-based bodies and deliberative assemblies.

This collection brings together philosophers, political and social scientists, lawyers and practitioners. It provides both an introduction to the field and a scholarly in-depth set of studies. It will appeal to academics, policymakers and civil society.