In 2015 Wales, UK passed into law the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act. This is the first legislation in the world to incorporate the well-being of future generations alongside the interest of the current generation in policy decisions. Jane Davidson, a former minister who oversaw that legislative process wrote a book “Acting today for future —– The journey to Wales’ Well-being of Future Generations Act” a record recounted in full detail, interwoven with personal experience. Chia Yoshida, a freelance journalist and author of "Mother and Child Evacuation" and “Isolated stronghold: 3.11 for firefighters of Futaba-gun” will introduce the book.
This book unravels the history of the painstaking efforts that went into creating the Future Generations Act, the world's first legislation enacted in Wales in 2015, offering valuable insights for all.
That is not all. It is also a book in which one can discern, through the rich descriptions scattered throughout, just how much the author, Jane Davidsone, loves nature.
Jane describes as when she was seven years old “I fell in love with the abundance of nature” she spent hours encouraging as many chongololos as possible to be rings on my fingers. To adults, it's a rather gruesome sight, but for children, it's great fun. I too recall from my childhood how I would gently pull up spider nests from the ground, build mazes for pill bugs, and repeat these things endlessly with excitement, never tiring of them.
Such endeavours rarely go smoothly. Nature and living creatures are not entities that conform to our wishes; they must be protected. It was also a crucial time for learning both the fascination and the difficulty involved.
And I think Jane's thoughts on words form the foundation upon which the Future Generations Act was built as described below,
How do we describe nature if we don’t have the words ? The words I’ve used here have grown with me since childhood over a lifetime of reading and observing ; they are comfortable friends seducing me with their accuracy of description , enabling me to make sense of the world .
For example a vision expressed in such concise word “One Wales, One Planet” was brought from a calculation that “if everyone in the world consumed natural resources and generated carbon dioxide at the rate we do in Wales , we would need at least three planets to support us.” We don’t have three planets.
The expansion of perspective from “I” observing a small millipede to “I” as the sole individual on Earth also evokes people's thoughts about the future.
Furthermore, Jane also writes:
For me the political has always been personal and the personal , political . I must confess, I lived my life unaware of this until the nuclear accident occurred.
It must have been over five years ago that I spoke with a friend: ‘The “environmental issue” of our generation was “pollution”, but today's children overwhelmingly learn about the “climate crisis”.’ Learning the history of pollution and considering how to prevent repeating the suffering of its victims is, of course, vital. Yet, an era demanding we contemplate humanity's survival on a global scale had already arrived.
When the nuclear accident occurred, my first thought was “I'm so sorry for the children”. That feeling remains unchanged, and since then, I've met many people who carry it in their hearts. Witnessing the terror brought by the nuclear accident (which even evoked thoughts of “death” for many), and seeing people whose lives were stolen or tormented by it, many in Japan said, “I thought things would surely change”.
Yet now, that ‘I thought it would change’ is spoken with despair as ‘it hasn't changed’ or ‘it's actually got worse’.
Therefore, I deeply resonate with the words written at the end of this book by Ms Kawai Fumie (Kira), who encountered the Future Generations Act in 2022 and has since driven forward with the conviction that Japan too should adopt such legislation.
──I am determined to see this law enacted in Japan. This legislation encompasses everything needed to resolve Japan's societal challenges! For the rest of my life, I shall be wholly absorbed in pursuing this single theme.
With the Act, it perceives sustainable development for future generations “the central organising principle of government” and “the priority among other priorities” and realise it. – it seems like a dream (unfortunately) when we think about the current Japanese politics and society. And the definition of sustainable development principle is “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”. What instantly came to mind was that if this became the government's guiding principle, nuclear power plants would disappear.
I want to see this realised in Japan. I feel that very strongly too.
This book is packed with methodologies and concrete examples to make it happen. It ensures the “Future Generations Act” does not remain merely an ideal.
To connect with the “duty to deliver”, there has been a process involving repeated trial and error, rigorous objective review, and countless individuals engaging in dialogue about the future time and again. As evidence of this, this book is peppered with the opinions and visions of many people besides Jane (the author) that were contributed during its writing. Many of these voices are active and self-determined. The Future Generations Act is recognised as belonging to them, and to everyone.
Some people speak out on various social issues. Others do not. There are many theme for the future symbolised such as “Women”, “Carers”, “Young Farmers” in Wales. Yet the desire to make the future better and ensure the next generation can live happily is fundamentally connected. An ideal “Future Generations Act” would gently bind these aspirations together, transforming how we live and safeguarding the lives of children yet to come. If the Well-being of Future Generations Act is “a beacon of hope in a time of despair”, this book is the first step towards lighting that lighthouse.
You will surely begin to think, ”Do unto future generations what you would have past generations do unto you.” And then, in a safe and comfortable place, you feel like talking to someone about the future, about this law.
About the Author
Chia Yoshida
A Freelance Journalist. Born 1977. She has been interviewing and supporting victimsand evacuees from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. She is the author of "Mother andChild Evacuation" (Iwanami Shinsho), “Life After Fukushima: People Living in the Wake ofthe Nuclear Disaster” (Jinbun Shoin), co-author of “Nuclear Power Plant Evacuation WhitePaper” (Jinbun Shoin). With “Isolated stronghold: 3.11 for firefighters of Futaba-gun)”(Iwanami Shoten) published 2020, she won the Kodansha Yasuharu Honda Nonfiction Prize(42nd edition), the Kazuhiro Hisumi Information Circulation Promotion Award 2020 GrandPrize, and the Japan Conference of Journalists (JCJ) Award (63rd edition)