(CNS): As Cayman battles to reflect the PACT Government’s sustainability policy beyond sustaining profit and prosperity, the premier’s ministry invited Wales’ former commissioner for future generations to Cayman this week to share how the small UK country became the first to pass legislation that forces its government to consider the impact of every law and policy on future generations.

Sophie Howe was the first future generations commissioner for Wales, where she helped to create legislation that holds the government there to account on how their decisions affect the people, not just today but decades from now, securing policy transformation on climate, education and social justice.

The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, dubbed the “common sense act”, was the first law of its kind, but several other countries, including the Balearic Islands and New Zealand, have begun shaping similar legislation. Premier Wayne Panton has said he wants to start the conversation here about how we protect future generations and shape the future country that people want.

In a three-day whirlwind visit this week, Howe met with a cross-section of society and presented an outline of the work done in Wales. The goal was for Howe to help set the stage for Cayman to begin its own conversation about what people here want this country to look like over the coming decades and how to get there.

“It is entirely possible to act today for a better future for tomorrow,” Howe said at a presentation at the Westin on Wednesday.

Protecting the environment is a critical part of the conversation, as Howe pointed out that “there is no growth or jobs on a dead planet”. But the concept of taking a longer-term view on policy decisions and promoting and protecting the needs of future generations is also about housing, education, community, culture, social justice and equality.

Premier Wayne Panton told CNS that he had asked Howe to come and talk to cross-sections of our community to help us begin the necessary conversation about the next 50 years. “Looking down the road, what do we all want for the future? What do we want Cayman to look like?” He said that since taking office, he has talked about the need to begin this process. “This is the kind of exercise I have talked about for some time,” he added.

Howe gave an insight into how a small country like Wales went through the exercise to figure out goals that are people centred, which help guide how decisions are made that will deal with the issues today and also benefit the future. Panton said this type of framework is needed here to guide decisions and actions that will lead to positive outcomes in the future as well as now.

Howe explained that the aim of the legislation and the commissioner for future generations is about meeting today’s needs without compromising the future of the next generation, forcing people to look very differently at the decisions they make.

However, she warned that the rollout of the legislation and the office that oversees it was not a solution on its own. It was the gradual cultural shift, moving politicians from their short-term approach to future thinking, that was equally important. The law was rolled out seven years ago, and Howe said that it is having an impact on new legislation being adopted by the Welsh Assembly (Senedd) and the policies of the devolved government.

Howe said the future generations legislation, from Welsh Transport Policy to the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act, is influencing decisions in a positive way. While there is still much work to be done to monitor how the act is being applied, she said that at the grassroots, people welcome the influence the law has on policy, and politicians are finally shifting away from short-term thinking.