How can you ensure intergenerational equity in sustainability risk and opportunity assessment?

Intergenerational equity in sustainability assessments demands proactive inclusion. Embrace long-term scenarios that encompass future generations' needs, integrate youth voices through participatory forums, and utilize generational accounting tools to assess impacts on future resource access and well-being. Prioritize reversible actions and invest in adaptive solutions that empower future generations to respond to emerging challenges. Remember, sustainability starts with the future in mind.

The intergenerational aspect is the basis of sustainable development. The definition of sustainable development takes into account the needs of the new generation. The new generation will need to be an integral part of the sustainability equation. The work should be continuous because every newborn has the right to live with dignity on this earth. Fight against pollution, circular economy, reduction in GHG emissions, protection of fauna and flora, reduction of inequalities, access to food and drinking water. So many issues and challenges for this generation in favor of future generations.

Future Impact Analysis: Regularly assess the long-term environmental, social, and economic impacts of current decisions and actions. Additional tools include scenario planning and forecasting and can help visualize potential future outcomes.

I would add some tools and methods that can help organisation’s assess sustainability risks and opportunities; 1. GRI Standards (Global Reporting Initiative); These guidelines provide a framework, for reporting on sustainability. 2. SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board); This organization offers industry standards that help disclose relevant sustainability information. 3. EcoVadis; Use this platform to evaluate the sustainability performance of your suppliers. 4. Development Goals (SDGs); Align your assessment with these goals to address broader sustainability challenges. 5. Carbon Footprint Calculators; Tools like Carbon Trust can be used to measure and manage your carbon emissions.

The best way to incoporate intergenerational values and criteria into your sustainability risk and opportunity assessment is to Engage Diverse Stakeholders in the process: By including voices from diverse age groups, especially younger generations, in decision-making processes. This ensures that the interests of future generations are represented and considered. It is also important to adopt Education and Awareness: Educate current generations about the importance of sustainability and the impact of their actions on future generations. This fosters a culture of responsibility and stewardship.

-Ensuring intergenerational equity in sustainability risk and opportunity assessment is a complex and challenging task that requires us to prioritize the needs and interests of both present and future generations. -We need to find a balance between the two, and recognize that this balance may change over time and across contexts. -We also need to empower future generations and raise awareness about the issues that could affect them, and ensure that they have a voice and a stake in sustainability decision-making. -We cannot ignore or underestimate our impact on sustainability, as our individual and collective actions may have significant and lasting consequences for the future.

To embed intergenerational equity, sustainability assessments must forecast welfare impacts across future generations using long time horizons of decades, quantify how youth human capital is preserved, enable youth participation to voice priorities, and directly weigh costs and benefits to people not yet born in modeling outcomes of decisions today. Assessments need to apply strong sustainability guardrails focused squarely on stewarding enough economic, social and environmental capital, evenly distributed over time, to sustain long-term human development.

The whole point of sustainable development is to ensure intergenerational equity i.e. Meeting the needs of today without compromising the long-term needs of future generations. This has been established as far back as 1987 in the Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Report). Ensure that your ESG and sustainability risk and opportunity programs are centred around this guiding principle.

Take a step back and start with fostering an organizational culture that values diverse voices. Establish open dialogue where employees of all ages feel comfortable sharing insights. Actively seek input from junior and senior staff to capture a broad range of experiences and perspectives. Implement mentorship programs that facilitate knowledge transfer across generations. Encourage cross-generational collaboration in decision-making processes. Embrace diversity and inclusion, recognizing the unique strengths each generation brings. By creating an inclusive environment, your organization can enhance the robustness of sustainability assessments and fortify a culture of intergenerational equity.