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Wales is a small but progressive country, the only country in the world to have
legislated to protect the interests of future generations, the only country to have appointed
someone independent to oversee this. Across the world, our systems of government, of
politics, of economics have tended to act in the short term. And often, the decisions that
are taken discount the interests of future generations and the planet. But in Wales, we're
trying to change that by passing a law which requires not just our government but all of
our main public institutions to demonstrate how they're acting for the long-term and how
the decisions they take don't harm the interests of those yet to be born. And so as a mum
of five and the world's only future generations commissioner, I want to share with you
today some of the lessons we've learned about how we're trying to leave the world better
than we found it.
First of all, you must involve people in setting long-term goals. Ask them: What's the
Wales or the world you want to leave behind to your children and your grandchildren? We
held a national conversation -- the Wales We Want -- and people told us, "We want a low-
carbon economy. We want you to help us keep people well rather than just treat them
when they're ill. We want connected communities and a more equal Wales." And our
government legislated to set seven national well-being goals to achieve that. Each
institution has to demonstrate how they're meeting those goals, and they're held to
account by me.
You have to focus on the interconnections between different aspects of well-being. You
need to talk often about why it's just as important to public health as it is to the
environment to tackle high levels of air pollution, why diversity in the workforce is just as
important to economic prosperity as it is to addressing inequality.
Our institutions have a legal duty to act beyond their immediate remit to recognize those
connections, work with unusual suspects. And so we're seeing hospitals in Wales working
with the National Botanic Gardens to create spaces for nature on their sites. We're seeing
offices in our environmental agency helping to find solutions to tackle childhood
