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Thursday, April 22, 2010

Giving Future Generations a Voice on Climate Change | Human Rights | Change.org

Since the 1970s, intergenerational rights have been recognized by several international agreements, including the Stockholm Declaration, the Rio Declaration, and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The rights of future generations are further protected by multiple national constitutions. In the United States, there are overtures to intergenerational justice in both state and federal law. But how does a society actually protect the rights of future generations?

Various jurisdictions are exploring the protection of intergenerational rights through the establishment of government advocates. In 2008, Hungary appointed its first Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations. The office is tasked with protecting the environmental interests of future generations by acting as an environmental ombudsman. In pursuance of this mandate, the Commissioner can receive constitutional complaints, engage in parliamentary advocacy, conduct research on relevant topics, or intercede where development projects may cause irreversible environmental harm.

The Hungarian approach has garnered attention in the U.K., where the British Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, more generally recognized the need to institutionalize the rights of future generations in November. Additionally, the government’s independent advisory body on sustainable development, the Sustainable Development Commission, has gone further by proposing a legislative Congress for the Future.

Very interesting.

Posted via web from Firesaw

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