Environmental Audit Committee critical of Treasury’s short-termism
Early in November, the House of Common’s Environmental Audit Committee produced a damning report on the Treasury’s influence on sustainability policy in the UK. The Audit Committee was able to marshal considerable evidence that “the Treasury has ridden roughshod over...
Piketty’s call for a new political discourse on globalization
In a recent article for Le Monde, Thomas Piketty argues that unsustainable development – a pattern of globalization which has boosted inequality and so undermined communities and social justice as well as the environment – has brought about the recent...
For the Next Generations | Paula Tiihonen
Part of the Artwork Tulevaisuus (Future), Väinö Aaltonen (1932) To mark her retirement as the Counsel for the Committee for the Future in the Finish Parliament, Paula Tiihonen brought together a group of significant thinkers and doers for an international seminar on...
The courts, the government and air pollution
This week we have seen the UK government lose twice in the courts – once on air pollution and then on Article 50 to formally start the Brexit process. While there are voices questioning why in a democracy the courts should be able to overturn government...
Autumn Newsletter: Breaking the power of short-term economics
Our submission to the EAC’s Global Goals in the UK inquiry
In September 2016, FDSD submitted our thoughts to the UK’s Environmental Audit Committee in response to their Inquiry into the domestic implementation of The Sustainable Development Goals in the UK. We argued that the SDGs provide a timely opportunity and useful...
Interview with new trustee Dr. Sándor Fülöp | Looking back at the impact and role of Hungary’s Ombudsman for Future Generations
From May 2008 to August 2012 Dr. Sándor Fülöp was the first Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations in Hungary. He is president of the Hungarian Environmental Management and Law Association (EMLA), works on public interest environmental cases as a private...
Interview with new trustee Peter Davies | Where next for the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act?
Peter Davies has a wide range of roles working in support of communities, citizens and consumers. These include chairing the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, Welsh Water’s Customer Challenge Group and the Size of Wales charity, Director of Pembrokeshire Community...
Children, Young People and Flooding: Recovery and Resilience | Report
The acute storms in the UK during the winter of 2013/14 and 2015/16 have revealed a problem that is now understood to be chronic: with climate change materialising more forcefully, severe flooding will become part of life for many communities across the UK....
Now is the best time to embrace the futures: SDGs and strategic foresight | Blog by Cat Tully
2016 is a unique, exciting time for the global development agenda. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are now underway and UN country teams face the huge task of implementing them. So, who will get the best outcomes by 2030? My money is on countries that use...
Economics for Everyone | The Citizens Economic Council
‘It’s the economy, stupid’! Governments rise and fall on the back of economic success or failure. For the public, the economy is consistently ranked among the top three issues of concern. Yet, few people feel literate enough to understand economic policy, to...
Switzerland to vote on Green Economy legislation
On 25 September 2016, the Swiss electorate will vote on the popular initiative: ‘For a sustainable and resource-efficient economy (Green Economy)’. The successful adoption of the initiative will oblige the confederation, cantons and communes to ensure that the Swiss...
The UK under a ‘hard’ and a ‘soft’ Brexit | Expert Review
“Brexit means Brexit,” said Theresa May in one of her first public statements as Prime Minister. But what does that mean – for agriculture, fisheries, the environment and climate change in the UK? These were the leading questions in a recent study by Dr Charlotte...
Summer 2016: Democracy, sustainable development and Brexit
A Divided Britain | Blog by Andrea Westall
Amongst many other things, the UK’s vote to leave the EU was a cry for recognition from people with very different lives and opportunities across the UK. It was also a stark reminder of ‒ or, for some, a sudden insight into ‒ different priorities and viewpoints...
Charting the course for post-Brexit Britain: Lessons from Wales
“What we need are conversations about the future we want,” says the FDSD in response to Brexit, citing the Wales We Want conversation as precedent. As a new FDSD Trustee and the former Commissioner for Sustainable Futures in charge of leading that conversation, which...
Brexit Britain and the SDGs
One month on and questions are still being asked about how we got here. The only thing that’s clear, it seems, is that Brexit suggests a deep division between inward- and outward-facing worldviews: control our borders and attempt to reduce the strain on our...
The unedifying Brexit debate: learning lessons from across the pond | Blog by Graham Smith
Whether you were for or against Brexit, most would agree that the referendum campaign was far from instructive. It brought out the worst in British politics: primarily two sets of over-privileged, middle-aged white males throwing opinions, thinly disguised as...
What Future Do We Want? | Blog by John Lotherington
As everyone woke up to Brexit on 24 June, there was a dawning realization that we were in uncharted territory. The campaign was focused on what we were trying to avoid, not where we wanted to head. That was true of the Remainers, with their increasingly...Sign up for newsletter
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