VIDEO: Webinar: Dialogue on Future Generations, 5 April 2023, 14:30 – 16:30 (CEST, GMT+1)
Date: 5 April 2023
Time: 14:30 – 16:30 (CEST, GMT+1)
Format: Online – Zoom
Language: English
AGENDA
1) Opening and welcome remarks
• Ms Farah Karimi, OSCE PA Special Representative on Youth Engagement
• Mr Askar Shakirov, OSCE PA Vice-President and Special Representative on SDGs
• Ms Margareta Cederfelt, OSCE PA President
• Ambassador Yoka Brandt, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations
2) Expert Panel Discussion:
• Mr. Thomas Hale, Professor of Global Public Policy, University of Oxford
• Ms. Cat Zuzarte Tully, Director, School of International Futures
• Mr. Jacob Ellis, Lead Change Maker, Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Next Generation Fellow
3) Open Debate and Brainstorming Session Members will be invited to discuss how Parliaments and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly can increase political attention to the issues of Future Generations, exchange national and international best practices, brainstorm ideas on parliamentary engagement in this area and develop a set of recommendations for the Assembly.
4) Closing remarks
BACKGROUND
In 2021, in response to the request by Member States to prepare a report reflecting a vision on global challenges and crises and formulate a set of recommendations to address these challenges, the UN Secretary General issued a report entitled “Our Common Agenda”.
The report, in particular, emphasizes the urgent need to develop long-term responses to various challenges, to deliver more for young people and succeeding generations and to be better prepared for the challenges ahead. One of the main proposals outlined in the report was for Member States to issue a Declaration on Future Generations and implement a set of institutional modernizations and reforms that would support its implementation.
Future generations are unrepresented in present decision-making processes; they are fundamentally disempowered, and yet will inherit the planet and the society we live in. While the world is already struggling with an increasing number of global crises like pandemics, ongoing armed conflicts, poverty, food and energy shortages, and climate crisis, generations after ours will face the consequences of these crises. The emerging need to consider the interests of future generations through the adoption of a Declaration on Future Generations on the one hand is based on the fact that the majority of today’s crises will have a long-term impact. Understanding the root causes of these crises and anticipating them, investing efforts in preventing them and creating a link between the present and future is crucial. On the other hand, the concept of future generations needs to have a normative framework integrated in the system of governance and decision-making.
The legitimization of future generations, especially at the international level, will be the first step towards systematically advocating for their rights and interests. To address these issues, the General Assembly of the United Nations initiated an intergovernmental process on the Declaration on Future Generations, which is co-facilitated by the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Fiji to the United Nations. The Elements Paper for the Declaration for Future Generations, prepared by the co-facilitators through a process of informal consultations and collection of inputs from various stakeholders, outlined four groups of suggestions to be reflected in the Declaration: 1) Securing the interests of future generations; 2) Identifying, managing and monitoring major global risks; 3) Long-term sustainable development; and 4) Suggestions for taking forward the Declaration for Future Generations. The Elements Paper was drafted based on an initial exercise with UN Member States, Observers and other stakeholders to share their thinking about what could be considered in the Declaration. Although it is not a negotiated outcome, the Elements Paper can give some direction about what to think about, when thinking of a Declaration for Future GenerationsThe Elements Paper furthermore draws attention to important questions to be discussed in preparation for the Declaration, such as: How to understand the term “future generations” and how can their interests and rights be protected? Which policy issues are of concern for future generations and what are the prerequisites for a safe and sustainable future? How are the interests of future generations interlinked with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and what should the process beyond SDGs look like?
Ensuring that the interests of future generations are respected has implications in a wide range of policy areas: representation, foresight, science and technology, development, and human rights, among others. This also highlights the important role that legislative bodies should play in this process. Sensitive policymaking, parliamentary oversight, inclusive public discussions, monitoring and reporting mechanisms are needed to ensure accountability to future generations. We can already see the implementation of some of the best practices on how legal and institutional instruments are introduced for these purposes at the national and international levels. There are examples of recent incorporation of considerations of future generations in the constitutions of different countries; courts worldwide recognize several rights of future generations; and legislation and policies are being reviewed against their impact on long-term perspectives. Moreover, various institutions, offices and other legal instruments are already established in different countries: Parliamentary Committees for the Future, Future Generations Acts and Commissioners, etc. Investing in younger generations will deliver crucial returns for those alive today. At the same time, the opinions of young people are also crucial for the design of our future. The complex problems that current society faces will unfold over multiple lifespans. The current generation of young people will inherit the world we are building today and will pass it to the generations to come. A focus on the priorities of young people, and the establishment of mechanisms to ensure their meaningful inclusion in policy decision-making will help not only to deliver immediate results, but also to create a human capital and social cohesion for the longer term. Providing youth with a voice, investments in education, ensuring prosperity and just societies will create an important basis for our future generations.
In light of the important task ahead, the OSCE PA Special Representative on Youth Engagement Farah Karimi together with OSCE PA Vice-President Askar Shakirov, Special Representative on SDGs, are organizing an online parliamentary dialogue where OSCE PA Members will have an opportunity to hear from experts and professionals and discuss the prospects for the Declaration on Future Generations, learn about best practices in promoting the interests of Future Generations, in particular within the parliamentary dimension, and discuss the OSCE PA’s contribution in this domain, such as through the potential adoption of an OSCE PA Resolution on Future Generations during the upcoming 30th Annual Session in Vancouver.
Participants of the Seminar will be offered the possibility to exchange and discuss the policies on Future Generations and share their national best practices. The discussions will feature an opening address by the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations and co-facilitator of the intergovernmental process on the Declaration on Future Generations, Ambassador Yoka Brandt, followed by introductory presentations by guest speakers. The keynote presentations will be followed by an open debate. Interventions are foreseen by parliamentarians, in addition to expert guest speakers.
