A Warning from the Future: Wales Must Think 100 years, not 100 Days

Derek Walker – Future Generations Commissioner for Wales

The true measure of the new Welsh Government will be whether it choses short-term fixes or long-term action to secure a good future for everyone.

Short-term fixes that ignore the future are one of the reasons people are suffering now.

We spend more every year reacting to poor health because prevention was postponed.

We pay higher household bills because energy resilience lost out to market-driven decisions.

My role as independent Future Generations Commissioner is to challenge the government on its obligation to ensure future generations suffer less than those living with the worst consequences of today’s challenges.

Rising costs, widening inequalities and division, fragile public services and an unstable energy future mean we need to plan not just for the next 100 days, but for the next 100 years.

It is positive to see the new Welsh Government’s commitments reflect some of my recommendations – a new comprehensive national food strategy, maximising meaningful Welsh ownership of renewable energy, and ambitious targets on nature recovery.

Global events are exposing the lack of resilience in our food and energy systems that have been building for years.

War

Resolution Foundation says the Iran war could cost Welsh households £500 this year, with energy prices set to rise from July, and food prices continuing to increase.

The urgent warning from experts is – switch to renewables now and protect the most vulnerable.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that almost one in five species now faces extinction, only 40% of water bodies achieve good status, and ecosystem resilience remains low across much of the country.

I warned at the time that nature is one of our most powerful allies in creating better lives for all of us – preventing flooding, reducing pollution and protecting our health.

Food insecurity, nature loss and rising energy costs are often treated as separate policy problems.

While communities experience them as one interconnected reality in an already unfair economic system leaving more families vulnerable.

Solutions

That’s why the solutions have to be joined-up, and bold enough not just to improve lives today but to protect people from the shocks that will come in the future.

In the first few years of my role, my team and I have been pushing for long-term, people-centred decision-making.

With food as a priority, we’ve helped expand the number of local food resilience plans and access to healthy, local food in schools, while challenging a shift in public spending priorities towards preventative health, accelerating stronger action on nature and climate and embedding climate risk assessments across all areas of Wales.

Fixing food is an obvious place for Welsh Government to make a difference.

The new Welsh Government has made a manifesto commitment to deliver a progressive increase in horticulture production and for 25% of vegetables served in Welsh schools to be of Welsh origin by 2030. This will boost Welsh growers and our children’s health.

The cost of living crisis means many Welsh families can’t put food on the table, and climate change, trade wars and global conflict pose huge risks to Wales food supply – growing our own food resilience must be a priority for the new national food strategy.

Bills

Action on renewable energy must be fast, must reduce bills, involve communities and expand community ownership to double previous targets.

We are now six years into a Wales-declared climate emergency, yet only 33% of our power comes from renewables — below the UK average — while household energy bills continue to rise and communities still miss out on the wealth generated from the natural resources around them.

Nature is declining at an alarming rate, with habitats vanishing and biodiversity under increasing pressure.

‘Ambitious targets on nature recovery’ must be statutory, not just indicative.

We’re behind where we should be, and we need stronger protections and targets for nature restoration before more wildlife and habitats disappear.

Wales’ Well-being of Future Generations law is about stopping today’s harm, and saying we won’t allow the same communities to be hit time and time again.

An urgent move to long-term delivery that safeguards the interests of our grandchildren requires bold leadership across all parties.

I’ll continue to push Wales’ decision makers for clean water, better food systems, a fair and united society that protects people from the cost of living crisis and health inequities, and avoids further damage.

I’m also challenging the new Senedd to set up a Committee for the Future and a Cross-Party Group for Future Generations – to support and challenge our parliamentarians to keep their eye on Wales 2050.

Progress is possible. Since my recommendations were published, every Public Services Board in Wales has committed to climate resilience planning. Across Wales, innovative community projects are already demonstrating what fairer, greener futures can look like, and involving those most affected.

Test

Every one of those taking on this vital challenge knows that now the real test begins.

A recent poll by Climate Cymru showed the majority of people in Wales want action on climate change, with extreme weather (including flooding and heatwaves), food insecurity and economic impacts (eg poverty and employment) are the top three concerns.

Wales’ new government will have an influence beyond its borders, and a fair shift to renewables is urgent and one that needs passionate backing from Cymru.

As a new Senedd begins its work in representing 3,187,000 constituents, it’s also representing another 328,000 people. Roughly the size of the capital city, that’s the number of children who will be born in Wales by 2050.

They’ll live longest with the consequences of every decision taken, or avoided, over the next four years.

Winning the election was one thing but it’s not enough – saving the future is the current crisis none of us can afford to ignore.