My Manifesto for Future Generations

Increasingly, as I rail against news stories from right around the world, I have found myself wondering: "I know what I oppose but what do I believe in and what do I think we should be doing?"

So forgive me, if I indulge myself and offer my own personal manifesto for future generations : a manifesto because it is a set of rough principles, rather than any kind of programme and for future generations because I feel that we need this future-focused lens as a benchmark for our decision-making.

1. Every decision we take must be designed to mitigate or reverse the risk and impact of climate change

Climate change is a complex issue and one that is affected by and affects many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. I feel it is the touchstone of our ability to transform our socio-economic model from one of unbridled consumption to sustainability and equality.

2. We should redesign democracy in the UK to reflect the reality of the 21st Century

'Transformation' is the watchword for everything from Government systems to businesses and education and yet our systems for democracy in the UK steadfastly cling to voting and decision-making processes that were current in the 1600s. We baulked at proportional representation; despite an electorate that increasingly finds reasons not to vote, we have failed to adopt technology to increase access to voting and the one part of the parliamentary process that stands out each week is the ridiculous charade of Prime Minister's questions.

I firmly believe that increased democracy is the only way to tackle our social and economic challenges. We need to abandon the 'parent/child' model of professional politicians who promise the impossible to an expectant and passive electorate. Let's move to elect politicians for a maximum of two terms of parliament; people who are drawn by the parties from the ordinary citizenry (rather as we do for trial juries); people who have skin in the game and whilst they may be politically naive, do at least have some sense of what it's like to live and work in the country outside of Westminster. And let's draw on the wonderful example of the Scottish Assembly building with its chamber that is designed for concensus politics; open to external visitors and using technology to vote.

3. We should devolve, devolve, devolve

In a complex system that is the globalized world, increasing levels of centralisation don't improve decision-making or the effectiveness of Government, they simply serve to drive a further wedge between the Government and the people. Devolved budgets and decision-making allows local people to make their own mistakes, certainly, but also enables them to develop their own responses to the negative impacts of globalism and the risks of uncertainty. Local decision-making is democratic and maybe, just maybe, there is something in the wisdom of crowds.

Localism and devolution offer models of cooperation and collaboration that we might also then adopt or adapt in our approaches to business.

4. Rebuild the social contract

It feels as if trust is at an all time low across all of our institutions. No one trusts politicians, no one trusts big business, no one trusts the press. A business model that has increasingly favoured the short-term needs of the shareholder over all other stakeholders and placed emphasis on profit before all, is no longer fit for the 21st Century.

We should incentivize (and punish ... there needs to be a carrot and stick) businesses of all kinds to reframe their activities to assure commercial sustainability and profit (of course) but to put equal emphasis on the social and environmental value of what they do.

5. Return to the United Nations

I was born in the 1960's so my sense of the first half of the 20th Century comes from the history books. With that proviso, I feel that the beliefs and ideals that encouraged nations to come together and form a body to represent them all has now been so undermined by many of those nations (including those who should know better) pursuing their own national or international agendas, that we have lost something fundamental.

We should return with humility to the United Nations; not to preach to other nations but to listen; not to demand our rights but to uphold the rights of others and to show that we understand that for the benefit of humanity and our planet, nations must cede some sovereignty to the collective.

6. Develop an authoritative and transparent scorecard built on the UN sustainable development goals to measure our success and monitor our failure

Truth is one of the virtues that seems to have been most heavily victimised during my lifetime. We need to champion the truth through transparency. If we cannot regain the trust of the world's citizenry then what hope is there for our future generations?

You may laugh at the naivety of my ideas. You may poke holes in them as the basis for any practical programmes of change or you can build on them. What have I missed? What other points need to go into this manifesto for future generations? What does your manifesto look like?