Professor of Politics at Royal Holloway James Sloam argues that the failure to encourage youth participation in the policy-making process marks a key failure of both COP26 and public policy in general. It has failed younger generations, and led to reactive and unsustainable policy towards climate change and a whole host of related issues. Youth… Read more »
Category: Environment
COP26: Degrowth as a solution to the climate crisis
John Hobby, IF Researcher, looks at why GDP is an imperfect measure of human wellbeing and how changing how we think about growth could help us improve global living standards while reducing environmental degradation. Green Growth has become the established theoretical and policy response to tackling climate change and ecological breakdown, with talk of a… Read more »
COP26: progress on forest protection for future generations
Intergenerational Foundation Co-Founder, Angus Hanton, assesses the agreement between national leaders concerning forest protection and recovery at COP26 on Tuesday last week. Will their agreement be enough to protect “the lungs of the Earth”? What more can and should be done to protect forests and rainforests for the sake of young people and future generations?… Read more »
Britain’s COP26: leading the way, leading the world – will it be enough?
The Conservative Environmental Network’s Kitty Thompson assesses the UK’s role as a host of COP26 and its efforts in tackling climate change on the domestic front, finding reasons to be optimistic about the climate Conference. There is much more to do, and significant international cooperation is required: will COP26 instigate a change for good in… Read more »
Introducing our COP26 blog series: demanding change to protect the planet
COP26, the United Nations (UN) Climate Talks have begun. Liz Emerson, IF Co-founder, introduces the Intergenerational Foundation’s blog series surrounding the event and questions whether COP26 can deliver real progress on protecting younger and future generations from the worst effects of man-made climate change. What is COP26? COP26 is an annual UN climate change conference… Read more »
A safe climate is a Human Right – what now?
The United Nations (UN) has declared that access to a sustainable environment is a human right. But as established by IF supporter Alice Bordini-Staden, politicians must take action to ensure that future generations may enjoy this right. IF student intern, Hanna Burt, writes about the suggestions made by Alice and others to combat the intergenerational… Read more »
Extreme weather events: an intergenerational issue
The safety of future generations is under threat. Research at Imperial College London shows that generations born today will be far more affected by extreme weather than their predecessors. IF student intern Hanna Gunnerhed Burt writes about how these conditions will unfairly affect future generations An uninhabitable future A recent study published by Science shows… Read more »
“There are simply too few of us:” the German federal election and intergenerational politics
Older generations make up an overwhelming majority of eligible voters in the upcoming German federal election. Many young people feel that their interests are being ignored in the three leading parties’ campaigns. IF intern Carlotta Hartmann examines younger generations’ democratic deficit, and what it might mean for policy in the future. Population-ageing leaves young voters… Read more »
Young people, climate change and political power: comparing Germany and the UK
With the upcoming election marking a potential turning point in Germany’s future environmental policy, the country’s demographics give older generations more political power, says Deutsche Welle. If older generations are less concerned about climate change and less supportive of policies to change it, this is disillusioning for those hoping for more ambitious government action against… Read more »
The climate crisis requires solidarity between generations
Throughout the pandemic crisis, younger generations have taken a large hit to their quality of life in order to protect older generations who are most at risk of dying from COVID–19. IF senior researcher, Melissa Bui, explains how older generations can repay young people for their demonstration of intergenerational solidarity by taking essential and urgent… Read more »