Supporting community climate action is essential if local councils are to help Wales cut climate-warming carbon emissions and reach net zero, the Future Generations Commissioner said today. [Tuesday, March 5.]
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Green spaces are important – that's why we’re asking Welsh Government to ensure people can access nature within a four-minute walk
People in Wales should be able to access nature four minutes from where they live, the Future Generations Commissioner is announcing during National Tree Week.
Read MoreGrowing with Trees – reconnecting with nature by Nigel Pugh, Woodland Trust
To nurture a tree, is to nurture your own sense of environmental responsibility, whilst reconnecting us to our immediate natural environment, wildlife, nature, and to all future generations.
Read MoreUK’s first Future Generations Commissioner, Sophie Howe, visiting Dublin to share Welsh learnings on protecting future generations by law
Wales’ Future Generations Commissioner is visiting Dublin, Ireland, this week as both countries share learnings on protecting future generations by law.
Read MoreClimate and Nature
We will make it our mission to ensure all Welsh public bodies achieve their net zero and nature positive goals by 2030. As a result, public bodies are leading action on climate change including adaptation, in a way that reduces inequalities and maximises the benefits to people and communities across Wales.
Read MoreWe can end fuel poverty with £15bn retrofit investment plan for our homes, says Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
Fuel poverty could be eradicated in Wales by 2030 if Welsh Government commits to a long-term plan to improve the efficiency of our homes, says the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.
Read MoreWelsh Government budget must signal a change in direction to reset our economy
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed deep structural inequalities in our economy and society including wage poverty, health inequalities, racial disparities, food poverty, job insecurity and imbalances in quality of housing. At the same time climate and ecological breakdown is escalating, and we risk exacerbating all of these challenges if we go back to the way things were.
Read MoreChangemaker 100: Future Generations Commissioner marks end of seven-year term by recognising Wales’ changemakers
People making a positive difference to Wales’ present and future are being spotlighted by the first Future Generations Commissioner, Sophie Howe, as she comes to the end of her seven-year term.
Read MoreDraft budget: Defining moment for Welsh Government
The forthcoming budget is a defining moment for the Welsh Government.
Read MoreThe best business is when people, planet and profit intertwine
The best business is when people, planet and profit intertwine
Read MoreCOP is over for another year - now let’s up the pace on ending fossil fuels and accelerate action in Cymru, says Deputy Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
At this year’s COP28, the world’s nations have for the first time agreed that we must all transition away from fossil fuels. While this is a historic moment for us as global citizens and for our planet, it has failed to capture the urgency of the situation.
Read MoreAnother step in the right direction for future generations
We are very pleased to see the Welsh Government publish this important report today accepting the recommendations of the Roads Review Panel which we supported. We thank them and Dr Lyn Sloman for their evident commitment to transforming the way we will move around Wales.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner calls for Shorter Working Week trial
The Future Generations Commissioner for Wales has called on the Welsh Government to launch a shorter working week trial.
Read MoreCymru Can do better to improve lives for today and tomorrow
Here, he explains the next steps and why he believes Cymru Can use the Well-being of Future Generations Act to make Wales a better place to live for now and future generations.
Read MoreClimate change threat to our homes explored by Future Generations Commissioner’s poet in residence, Taylor Edmonds, with new poem commissioned by free event, Everything Change
‘the leaders, the people, they rolled over like spent dogs, yawned above the warnings’
Read More#TransportOctober Community Transport and Future Generations – Llyr ap Gareth, Community Transport Association UK
The international community faces huge challenges of climate change and dwindling resources. The Well-being of Future Generations Act (Wales) argues that if we hope to tackle those big questions, engaging in a sustainable way with local policy will be critical. I want to shine a light on how some of those local and global policy challenges link together through the lens of community transport.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner for Wales asks for explanation into road freeze exemptions
The Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Sophie Howe, has asked Welsh Government to explain how decisions are being made on Wales’ road-building freeze exemptions.
Read MoreWales needs to explore paying everyone a basic income – open letter to First Minister
Wales should explore paying everyone a basic income to study how it could improve lives for generations in the future, the First Minister is being urged.
Read MoreCymru Can Strengthen Community Resilience
As part of our series of blogs in response to the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales’ new strategy, Cymru Can, Eleri Williams from Building Communities Trust, explores the link between community resilience and inequality. Here, she looks at what can be done to ensure that Cymru Can achieve well-being for people now, and generations yet to be born, no matter where they live in Cymru.
Read MoreClimate change – our obligations to future generations
What I’ve learnt about climate change since becoming Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, earlier this year, is quite simply frightening. There is no doubt that it’s the greatest challenge facing future generations and action is urgently needed across the public sector to reduce our emissions and its impacts.
Read MoreCommunities' voices put centre stage to boost lives of future generations
The voices of some of Wales’ most under-represented communities have been put at the heart of a new way to create climate and nature emergency policy to benefit future generations.
Read MoreCalls for evidence on decarbonisation and carbon budgets
The Well-being of Future Generations Act requires you to use the five ways of working to maximise your contribution to the seven well-being goals – a number of which relate to climate change and low carbon.
Read MoreCardiff Council vote to divest pensions from fossil fuels is part of a growing movement in Wales
In response to Cardiff Council's vote to divest pensions from fossil fuels Thursday, 18th July, Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales said:
Read MoreThis must be a budget that reflects the requirements of the Well-being of Future Generations Act
In response to the Welsh Government’s detailed draft budget published today, Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales said:
Read MoreSocial Prescribing approach could lessen pressure on GPs
In response to a British Medical Association survey that revealed that a quarter of GPs in Wales are considering leaving the profession.
Read MoreIt’s time we looked at innovative ways of tackling the nation’s health problems
Like many parents, I supply my family with vitamins as we try to prevent the inevitable latest strain of winter cold or even flu. GP waiting rooms fill up and media outlets report the annual surge in waiting times or demand for hospital beds.
Read MoreWales – where well-being isn’t just a buzz word, it’s the law – reflects on seven years of its world-leading Future Generations Act
A future-fit curriculum for our children, solar panels saving a hospital £1m a year in electric bills, a road building freeze and hundreds of people receiving a basic income – these are just some of the changes Wales is making thanks to its world-leading Well-being of Future Generations Act.
Read MoreFair Trade is winning at public policy
On a sunny day in June 2018, I was privileged to be invited to attend the Inaugural EU Cities Fair and Ethical Trade Award Ceremony, in Brussels along with representatives from 15 other EU countries.
Read MoreInspiring the Well-being champions of the future - the 2021 Future Generations Leadership Academy
After the success of the 2020 pilot academy, the Future Generations Leadership Academy has returned in 2021 to inspire the next generation of Welsh leaders.
Read MoreWales and the United Nations Agenda 2030: an inclusive review of progress
This week Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and the Welsh Government will host a stakeholder summit to build on Wales’ contribution to the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
Read MorePublic sector must stop funding climate change say Welsh organisations and Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
Friends of the Earth Cymru, Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and other environment, development and trade union groups are calling on all public sector bodies in Wales to stop investing in climate-wrecking fossil fuel companies.
Read MoreCymru Can – the new strategy from the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales – says well-being law has to work harder
Wales needs to up the scale and pace on delivering its future generations law, says the Future Generations Commissioner, as he launches his new strategy, Cymru Can.
Read MoreWelsh Government must come clean on how their spending reflects the climate emergency they declared says Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
Following Welsh Government’s publication of an update to the Welsh Infrastructure Investment Plan, Monday, 4th November, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales has called on the Welsh Government to publish its carbon impact assessments to evidence how they are taking steps to tackle the climate emergency.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner urges Welsh Government to deliver on a green recovery budget
Sophie Howe says we have a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to reset Wales’ economy and is calling for “visionary ideas and transformative investment” in the nation’s recovery plan.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner for Wales publishes ten point plan to fund Wales’ climate emergency
Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales: “In previous and current budgets the Welsh Government spend has been around 1% on decarbonisation which is nowhere near enough to fund the challenges that a climate emergency presents.
Read MoreWorld Fair Trade Day
As a country not only have we led the way by becoming the first Fair Trade nation the Well-being of Future Generations Act make us the first nation to legislate and place the sustainable development principle at the heart of decision-making to improve our economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner for Wales on the search for a Poet in Residence
In collaboration with Literature Wales, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales is proud to announce it is looking for a Future Generations Resident Poet; a new and exciting opportunity for an emerging poet in Wales to bring the Act to life.
Read MoreLong-term Guidance
Resources that can help you think in the longer-term and act today for a better tomorrow.
Read MoreThe Media Must up its Game on Climate Change
Stories about climate events are becoming more common across our news channels. Floods, migration, crop failures, public health – the impact of climate change is wide and varied. Perhaps this incremental increase in climate change activity will lead to more coverage where environmental stories compete for air time on our radio and tv news outlets and in newspaper columns.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner welcomes milestones set by Government but says more ambition is needed in some areas
Wales’ Well-being of Future Generations Act is a law that puts a duty on Welsh Government to protect the interests of future generations while meeting the challenges of today - the law requires the Government to set milestones they are seeking to achieve on their way to meeting each of Wales’ seven well-being goals.
Read MoreWhat does well-being look like now and in the future?
A key part of the Well-being of Future Generations Act established Public Services Boards (PSBs) to make sure that local organisations work together to improve the well-being of their area for current and future generations.
Read MoreManifesto for the Future
Our younger generations are calling out the failures of past decisions, and sadly, often decisions in the continuing present that fail to take into account their futures – embarrassing, perhaps, but necessary.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner - August Newsletter
We know we can’t tackle the challenges facing our future with the solutions we relied on in the past. Especially when those very ways of working often are what have created the global issues we face in the first place.
Read More#TransportOctober Roqib Monsur nextbike Ambassador explains why cycling is the best way to get around Cardiff
Since the bike-sharing scheme launched in Cardiff earlier this year, I was one of the people that took advantage of the scheme and began travelling using the nextbike for my everyday travels across the city. After using them a few times, I started raving about it to my friends and family, or anyone who would listen, and getting them to use it too.
Read MoreInternational Work
The work we do in Wales continues to inspire organisations and governments internationally.
Read MoreCommissioner at COP26
Wales has a huge story to tell at COP26 – our Well-being of Future Generations Act.
Read MoreBuilding Back Creatively: A Poet in Residence for the Future
The Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Sophie Howe, in collaboration with Literature Wales and Wales Arts International, is announcing an exciting opportunity for an emerging poet to bring the Well-being of Future Generations Act to life.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner for Wales – July Newsletter
As the summer holidays begin and many of us look forward to spending time with our own future generations, we’re reminded of just what well-being really means; spending time with loved ones, a bike-ride in the sunshine, or simply taking a well-earned break, it’s important to take stock of what’s already been a busy 2019.
Read MoreCommissioner supports call for the arts to be available on prescription by Arts Council of Wales
Alternative models for improving health and well-being is one of the priority areas for the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner for Wales - June Newsletter
The events throughout June have highlighted just what can happen when people make their voices heard about what matters to them. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to raise your voice for future generations.
Read MoreComisiynydd Cenedlaethau’r Dyfodol Cymru yn galw ar Awdurdodau Lleol i roi’r gorau i danwydd ffosil
Gydag £1bn o fuddsoddiadau Cronfeydd Pensiwn yng Nghymru’n cael ei wario ar gwmnïau sy’n seiliedig ar ynni ffosil, mae Comisiynydd Cenedlaethau’r Dyfodol Cymru yn galw ar Awdurdodau Lleol i ddangos sut mae risg yn sgil yr hinsawdd yn cael ei ymgorffori yn strategaeth fuddsoddi eu cronfeydd yn y presennol a’r dyfodol.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner for Wales calls on Local Authorities to divest from fossil fuels
With £1bn of Pension Funds investment in Wales being spent on fossil fuel based companies, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales calls on Local Authorities to demonstrate how climate risk is being incorporated into their current and future fund's investment strategy.
Read MoreBack to the Future with Magor & Undy Walkway Station
When MAGOR was launched on 14th March 2013, the group realised from the outset the enormity of the tasks facing them. The first challenge was to get the walkway concept and business plans agreed and funded by governments and the rail industry.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner launches major study into basic income and shorter week
Wales could be the test ground for a pioneering initiative to give citizens a basic income from the government and a shorter working week.
Read MoreWales leading the way with Future Generations Legislation - UN plans to adopt Welsh Approach
Wales is leading the way to protect future generations, the United Nations has said.
Read MoreEconomic development cannot be delivered without social improvement
Embedding public value within the heart of the activities of Cardiff Business School, is a unique feature of the school.
Read MoreSophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, welcomes the news that all new road building projects in Wales are being paused by Welsh Government
“This is a huge step in the right direction for the healthier, resilient and more equal Wales and shows the difference having a Well-being of Future Generations Act makes."
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner for Wales calls for long-term policy ideas to protect against future cost of living emergencies
The Future Generations Commissioner for Wales says the Well-being of Future Generations Act should be used to future-proof against further cost of living emergencies.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner calls for a Basic Income pilot for creatives
The Future Generations Commissioner is calling for a Creative Universal Basic Income to pay artists a basic living allowance and help Wales recover from the pandemic
Read More10 Point Plan to Fund Wales' Climate Emergency
Climate change is the greatest threat facing future generations. On 29 April 2019 Welsh Government declared a climate emergency, shortly after publishing their plan “Low Carbon Wales” which contains 100 policies and proposal but not detail on how these will be funded.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner's response to Welsh Government's UBI trial
“Today’s announcement is an important step forward for care-leavers, and although this is not a full Universal Basic Income, I welcome the Welsh Government’s commitment to this trial.
Read MoreScrapped M4 Relief Road cash must be used to fund green recovery, says Future Generations Commissioner
Wales must have full borrowing powers from Westminster to build a green recovery, says the Future Generations Commissioner.
Read MoreBlack History Month: “I believe it’s important to remember that we, as Black people, don’t need to wait for one month out of the year – we can be celebrating each other at any time.”
“All my life I have wanted to become a doctor, however in my second year of studies, when I started plugging myself in to different communities and meeting different people through networking, I realised there was so much to do. And impacts to be made in so many ways."
Read MoreNew Future Generations Commissioner reflects on first month as the new guardian for people in Wales not yet born
Imagine a person born 50 or 100 years into the future - how is their life going to be made worse or better by what you do today?
Read MoreCase Studies
Over the last few months, we have been collecting good case studies of how the Act is being implemented on the ground across Wales.
Read MoreRadical vision for Wales needed to create future-fit jobs, says Future Generations Commissioner in her plan for new government
Thousands of new ‘future-fit' jobs could be created if the new Welsh Government embraces a radical vision for Wales, according to the Future Generations Commissioner.
Read MoreBudget shows signs of improvement but is some way off the investment needed to tackle the climate and nature crisis says Future Generations Commissioner for Wales
The Future Generations Commissioner for Wales has welcomed the Welsh Government’s budget published yesterday but says the Government is still not comprehensively demonstrating how spending is meeting the climate emergency and how across the board it is shifting its spend towards preventing problems from occurring rather than trying to fix them afterwards.
Read MoreFuture Generations Commissioner for Wales welcomes Welsh Government Climate Emergency declaration
Following today’s announcement by the Welsh Government of a climate emergency, Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales said:
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