The Woman Who Transformed A Nation | Sophie Howe
The Woman Who Transformed A Nation | Sophie Howe
The world's first Future Generations Commissioner
Appears in this episode
“You wouldn't think it was revolutionary for a country to have a set of long-term goals but it's completely revolutionary. There's no other country in the world that has that. It's all just short-term electoral cycles, so nobody really knows where we are, and therein lies the problem with the ageing population, with addressing issues around automation and AI, with addressing issues around climate.
“These things span way beyond, and so the political system doesn't account for them. So having these seven long-term goals, it means, for Wales, we know where we're going.”
What if a nation built policies for the future, not the election cycle?
Sophie Howe was the world’s first “commissioner for the unborn”, appointed to steer Welsh politics away from short-term electoral goals to long-term policies that protect the population and planet. During her seven year term she achieved incredible successes—including stopping all new road planning projects in the nation.
Sophie joins me to discuss the Future Generations Act, the progressive piece of legislation that led to her appointment and makes it statutory that the Welsh government keep seven long-term goals in mind: prosperity, resilience, health, equality, community, culture and global responsibility. She explains how the Act has transformed education, culture and political thinking in the modest nation in a short time—and why other governments around the world are putting their own Acts through parliament as we speak.
The Woman Who Transformed A Nation | Sophie Howe
This was an incredible interview with Sophie Howe. It's very rare that we get good news in this space and when we do, it's usually of a fragmented and isolated nature. What Sophie describes here is an holistic approach that not only creates joined up solutions to the meta-crisis, but has actually influenced government policy. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out in Scotland, the U.N., Scandinavia and beyond. The only negative note was when a certain Rees-Mogg was mentioned. Funny that!
Is there any party in England that is pushing for something like the Future Generations Act?