This House of Lords Library Briefing has been prepared in advance of the debate due to take place on 20 June 2019. Lord Bird (Crossbench) is to move that “this House takes note of the case for better protecting and representing the interests of future generations in policymaking”.
Protecting and Representing Future Generations in Policymaking (349KB PDF)
Academics Hilary Graham and Piran White have argued that “how future generations are represented in policy-making is one of the biggest questions of our time”. However, the “standard approach to policymaking prioritises the interests” of current citizens.
Some theorists have suggested that future generations should not be explicitly represented in policymaking. One reason advanced is their implicit representation through family and institutional ties of the current generation. Another is uncertainty about what future generations’ interests will actually be. However, counter-arguments have been made to these ideas.
Worldwide, countries including Finland, Hungary, Singapore and Israel have introduced formal representation of future generations into policymaking. There is a Commissioner for Future Generations in Wales, and a ‘futures forum’ in Scotland. There is no UK-wide equivalent, although future generations are mentioned in a number of policies and plans.
A preference for current over future generations is built into the cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) undertaken on proposed UK government policies. In CBAs, the ‘discount rate’ means that any benefit has a lower value, the further in the future it arises. However, the Government has said that this should be adjusted for environmental issues. These, it said, involve “significant and, for all practical purposes, irreversible wealth transfers from the future to the present”.
Intergenerational fairness may be threatened by current government deficits. These transfer the cost of spending onto future generations, even though they may not benefit from it. A House of Lords committee proposed that all spending policies should be subject to an ‘intergenerational impact assessment’.
Finally, a number of organisations have put forward proposals for how future generations might be formally represented in UK policymaking. Several have proposed a new House of Lords Committee as a possible approach.
Protecting and Representing Future Generations in Policymaking (349KB PDF)
The Nature’s Rights Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill sponsored by Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party). The bill would recognise nature as a legal subject, granting it specific rights for protection and restoration. The bill would set out a legal framework for how this would operate, including an integrated rights framework and mechanisms for how nature’s rights would be implemented and enforced.
![Nature’s Rights Bill [HL]: HL Bill 7 of 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Environment-568x426.png)
In January 2026, the government announced a new scheme to support urgent repairs and essential improvements to listed places of worship. Called the ‘Places of worship renewal fund for England’, it replaced the ‘Listed places of worship grant scheme’ which had run since 2001. This briefing provides an overview of both schemes, the government’s reasoning for the change and the reaction of stakeholders.
Social media and other technologies have made it easier, quicker and cheaper for foreign powers to spread false information online aimed at undermining UK democracy. Such disinformation campaigns are one type of interference operation. In parallel, researchers have noted a link between declining public trust and societal polarisation, which can be exacerbated by online discourse. This briefing provides introductory reading to these issues, including recent reports and government announcements.
