In a world increasingly defined by its global challenges, the Declaration on Future Generations represents a pivotal moment in international diplomacy. Yoka Brandt, the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations in New York, and her team have played a crucial role as co-facilitator in this initiative, which emphasises the responsibility of current leaders to prioritise the needs of future generations in their decision-making.
For two years, the Declaration was in the making. Ambassador Brandt, who was supposed to rotate out of her position, stayed a few weeks longer, given the importance of this week’s Summit of the Future, where the Declaration was adopted as part of the Pact for the Future.
Brandt elaborates on the Declaration’s key commitments, the importance of youth engagement in policy processes, and the role of the UN as a platform for collaborative solutions: “This is the first time ever that so many countries at the highest political level have committed to take the interests of future generations into account in their policy and decision-making.”
The Declaration outlines a bold vision for future generations. Can you walk us through some of the key commitments governments have made to ensure a brighter and more sustainable future for the next generations?
It is a milestone worth celebrating. The Declaration includes a pre-amble, guiding principles, commitments, a list of concrete actions for implementation, and a proposal for follow-up.
Central to the Declaration is the importance of recognising that our actions and inactions affect future generations. Therefore world leaders realise that present generations have a responsibility to act with the needs and interests of future generations in mind.
To this end the Declaration contains a series of commitments. These include commitments to urgently act to address critical environmental challenges. There is a clear commitment to strengthen cooperation in response to demographic trends and to invest in quality education for all, including digital literacy to bridge the digital divides.
The commitments are followed by 11 actions that will help us to institutionalise and monitor what we are doing to safeguard the needs and interests of future generations. These include leveraging science and strategic foresight, moving towards long-term thinking and planning and encouraging evidence-based decision making. With this Declaration we also commit to equipping the multilateral system, including the UN, to mainstream long-term thinking and future generations into policies and actions. Follow-up is secured by the decision to have a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on future generations to review the implementation of the Declaration five years from now.
What practical steps can governments and other stakeholders take to actively involve children and youth as the leaders of tomorrow in shaping policies that impact their future?
An essential step to actively involve children and youth as the leaders of tomorrow is to meaningfully engage them throughout policy and decision-making processes. To offer them a platform to engage with governments or other stakeholders to hear their perspective, concerns and ideas. Often, youth and children have a pretty good idea of what is important to them, what obstacles they face or what opportunities they see. This ‘young’ perspective can be quite refreshing. And in many countries, we see that it is the youth that is mobilising to address the prominent challenges of their time and the future, to protect democracies, demand justice and good governance, tackling climate change and building sustainable economies. So, it simply makes sense to include them from the start.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands has been doing this for instance in our foreign affairs with the ‘Youth at Heart’ strategy. We installed an Ambassador for Youth, Education and Work (much like the Youth Envoy of the UN), who works closely with a group of UN Youth Representatives and consults an international Youth Advisory Commission in the policy making process.
Our delegation for the Summit of the Future also includes a Youth Representative who has been involved in our preparation for the Summit and now she participates and speaks in several events to make sure young persons are part of the conversation.
Global challenges like climate change and economic instability don’t respect borders. How can we enhance international cooperation to tackle these issues, ensuring a secure and stable world for future generations?
Global challenges require global cooperation. And the best system we have to tackle global challenges is the United Nations. The UN is a unique convening platform where 193 states come together to work on tackling issues that transcend our borders like climate change but also economic stability. We need a strong UN and level of trust among the UN member states that allows for cooperation and consensus building. The Pact for the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact are a starting point for a number of reforms to restore this trust and ensure our multilateral system better reflects the realities of today. It is a starting point to working on a more secure and stable world for future generations.
Implementation of the commitments and actions of what has been agreed will be key in the coming years to enhance international cooperation. An important element of the Pact (chapter 5) is to make multilateral organisations even more fit for purpose, to tackle the challenges and crises of our time more effectively. We recognise that multilateral institutions like the UN and the international financial institutions need to be governed more effectively and efficiently and should further beef up their impact to achieve the SDGs of which climate change is an integral part.
Looking back at the Declaration, is there a particular outcome or initiative that stands out to you as a point of pride?
From the outset many stakeholders we engaged with called for a short document with clear actions. I am proud that we have delivered this and that everyone involved stuck to the approach of really agreeing upon new commitments. Having achieved a Declaration with clear actions and ambition is important to demonstrate a positive message to the world, especially in light of the vast number of global challenges we are currently facing.
In essence, the Declaration on Future Generations motivates countries to better take the needs and interests of future generations into account in their decision-making processes. This is an absolute novelty for the UN and is the point I am most proud of.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands played a significant role as a co-facilitator of the Declaration. What motivated your country to take on this responsibility, and how does this align with the Netherlands’ broader global priorities?
We were honoured that the President of the General Assembly requested us to take a leading role in the process leading up to the Declaration. Doing this together with Jamaica and Fiji significantly enriched our thinking on topics such as climate change. Through this process we feel humbled that the Kingdom of the Netherlands is seen as a reliable and trusted partner for improving international cooperation at the United Nations.
Working towards a more impactful United Nations has always been a key part of our foreign policy. We have for instance supported the reforms of the UN Development System which has demonstrated to lead to better cooperation within and among UN agencies at country level.
The Declaration also closely aligns to ongoing efforts in the Netherlands. For instance, we have connected our national SDG-effort to the wellbeing framework developed by the Dutch Statistics Agency and are working on a method to use this wellbeing framework to allow for the assessment of policy proposals ex-ante from a broader perspective than GDP only. This work is expected to be finalised in 2025.
The Dutch government has also strengthened its regulatory impact assessment instrument in 2022, integrating both the SDG’s and wellbeing themes into the assessment. New policies and legislative proposals need to be checked against possible effects here and now, into the future and on countries elsewhere.
The proposal for a Special Envoy for Future Generations is a central part of the Declaration. What makes this role so critical, and how do you envision it influencing global policy and action for future generations?
A Special Envoy will play a critical role in keeping this topic on the international political agenda. During the past two years working on the Declaration, I have been pleasantly surprised and inspired by all the work that is already being done throughout the world on safeguarding the interests of future generations. A special Envoy can facilitate exchange and collaboration to support states in rapidly adopting the commitments and actions in the Declaration. In addition, we have also agreed on a high-level meeting in 2028 to review implementation of the Declaration.
Precise tasks and mandate of the Special Envoy have not yet been determined. We will await further updates from the UN Secretary-General based on the guidance that the Declaration provides him.
How will the progress and implementation of the commitments made in the Declaration be tracked and reviewed over time?
The proof of the pudding is always in the eating. The first major milestone is having this Declaration, showing support to the UN Secretary-General for the appointment of a Special Envoy on Future Generations, the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly in 2028 and a report of the UN Secretary-General ahead of that session on implementation. Of course, civil society organisations and citizens of the world also play an important in promoting implementation at the regional, national and local level. These actions will support states in holding each other accountable and keeping the needs and interests of future generations in mind in discussions at the UN and all levels of government policy planning processes.
In June 2022, an intergovernmental process for the Declaration on Future Generations began, led by the Permanent Representatives of the Netherlands and Fiji to the UN, with Jamaica later succeeding Fiji. On 10 October 2023, the President of the General Assembly reappointed the Permanent Representatives of the Netherlands and Jamaica as co-facilitators to continue leading the process during the 78th Session.
