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	Ending child poverty is vital for a sustainable future by O. De Schutter, H. Frazer, A.C. Guio, E. Marlier Bristol University Press: Transforming Society   Ending child poverty is vital for a sustainable future, write Olivier De Schutter, Hugh Frazer, Anne-Catherine Guio and Eric Marlier.   The vicious cycles perpetuating poverty and disadvantage across generations have enormous economic, social and environmental costs. Ending them is essential for a sustainable future. Above all this requires urgent and radical action to tackle the deep-seated inequalities causing child poverty.   The future wellbeing and indeed survival of increasing numbers of children across the world is more and more at risk. Already too many children are growing up in poverty and the perpetuation of poverty from one generation to the next is deeply entrenched.   Poverty disproportionately affects households with children: children are twice as likely to live in extreme poverty as adults. Globally, approximately 800 million children aged 0–18 years are subsisting below a poverty line of US $3.20 a day, and one billion children are experiencing multidimensional poverty, with multiple deprivations in the areas of health, nutrition, education or standards of living, including housing.   Child poverty and the Intergenerational Perpetuation of Poverty (IGPP) are now being compounded by the impact of climate change.   Around one third of the world’s child population is living with the dual impacts of poverty and high climate risk. With the devastating effects of extreme weather destroying livelihoods and communities and leading to mass migration, more and more children are at risk.   The current spate of heatwaves, megafires, deadly floods and landslides in many countries across the world is bringing the reality of the climate crisis to the doors of more and more children.   It is no longer just a remote disaster that has been destroying lives and communities in many parts of the developing world and trapped them in poverty and a struggle for survival. It is now an existential threat to the future wellbeing of children in all countries, developed and developing.   The challenges posed by the climate crisis, the persistence of child poverty and the Intergenerational Perpetuation of Poverty, are inextricably bound together and to tackle one we must tackle the others.   They share a common origin: an economic system based on excessive consumption by some when others lack access to essential goods and services and cannot meet their basic needs, and the deeply unsustainable use of natural resources. Positive social change that will transform our societies and build an inclusive economy is vital to addressing these three challenges.   One of the keys to such a transformation and to building a sustainable future will be to tackle inequality and ensure real equality of opportunity for all. Above all, this will require intensifying action to end child poverty as this is essential to creating equality of opportunity for all and ending the Intergenerational Perpetuation of Poverty.   If we are to end child poverty and the Intergenerational Perpetuation of Poverty we must start by asking ourselves why in a world of plenty there is a collective failure to eradicate poverty. We believe this is because we only rarely move beyond the symptoms to address the root causes, particularly in early childhood, of the Intergenerational Perpetuation of Poverty; because of the efforts of governments being obstructed, in particular as a result of mistaken beliefs concerning ‘merit’ and ‘incentives’; because of the self-interest of and exploitation by some who control excessive wealth and resources; and because of a failure to properly assess the costs to society of poverty and inequalities.   For instance, the current failure to eradicate poverty imposes a huge cost on society. In a country such as the United States, child poverty costs over US$1 trillion annually, representing 5.4 per cent of its gross domestic product, taking into account the loss of economic productivity, greater health and crime expenses, and increased costs as a result of child homelessness and maltreatment.   Investing in children, conversely, has considerable returns: for every dollar spent on reducing childhood poverty, seven dollars would be spared.   To break the vicious cycles that lead to IGPP and persistent child poverty, we should move beyond a reliance on the classic approach to poverty reduction based on economic growth combined with progressive taxation and social protection.   We need to both strengthen our post-market redistribution mechanisms and put more emphasis on the pre-market mechanisms that cause social exclusion. This means building an inclusive economy: one that prevents exclusion rather than causing exclusion and compensating it post hoc.   In strengthening our post-market redistribution mechanisms, three priorities will be vital.   First, mobilising increased resources to combat poverty by widening the tax base and implementing progressive tax policies. Second, strengthening social protection and protecting basic income security. Third, ensuring effective access for children to food, housing, sport, culture and leisure activities, childcare, education, healthcare and other key services.   What we need is a move from an extractive and exclusive economy to a regenerative and inclusive one. In particular, we believe that this will involve three things: i) advancing a jobs-rich model of development which makes the right to work a reality; ii) introducing a basic income for young adults; and iii) prohibiting discrimination on grounds of socioeconomic disadvantage.   Of course, the scale of economic, social and environmental changes required, essential though they are for all our futures, will not be easily achieved.   We must place the goal of ending child poverty and Intergenerational Perpetuation of Poverty at the heart of our economic and political systems and thus embed it in all our economic, social and environmental policies as well as in the systems for delivering them.   There is no excuse for the perpetuation of the vicious cycles that diminish life chances of children in poverty: we know the range of policies and actions that are needed to break them. Thus, given the damage that poverty does to people’s lives, to social cohesion, to the economy and to environmental sustainability, we can imagine no objective more urgent or worthwhile pursuing.   * Olivier De Schutter is the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and Professor at UCLouvain, Belgium and SciencesPo, France. Hugh Frazer is Adjunct Professor at Maynooth University, Ireland, a former Director of the Irish Government’s Combat Poverty Agency and an expert on European Union (EU) social policy and child poverty.   Anne-Catherine Guio is Senior Researcher at the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) and ensured the scientific coordination of the first two EU’s Feasibility Studies for a ‘European Child Guarantee’. Eric Marlier is International Scientific Coordinator at LISER and manages the 38-country ‘European Social Policy Analysis Network’ funded by the EU.   http://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2023/10/16/ending-child-poverty-is-vital-for-a-sustainable-future/ Visit the related web page
	Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations by Legal and human rights experts   The world is grappling with an array of intersecting crises that pose threats to human lives, livelihoods, and rights — not only of those currently living but of generations yet to come.   Courts, human rights bodies, international institutions, and governments around the world are increasingly confronting the question: What are our responsibilities to future generations?   When legal institutions grapple with new questions, the greatest source of guidance comes from the existing body of law; but often, it is challenging to crystallize existing law into new practice.   In 2017, a group of legal and human rights experts from around the world undertook a six-year process to examine the landscape of human rights law as it applies to the human rights of future generations. They drew from more than a century of legal research, international treaties, national constitutions and legislation, the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples from every continent, doctrines from major faith traditions representing the majority of the world’s people, and consultations with members of key social movements and more than 200 experts spanning a wide array of legal and philosophical disciplines.   The result is the Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations, adopted in early 2023 and endorsed by nearly sixty leading legal and human rights experts from around the world.   What is the purpose of the Maastricht Principles?   The Maastricht Principles are intended to clarify the state of international human rights law as it applies to future generations. They should guide the world’s approach to respecting, protecting, and promoting the rights of future generations based on the legal architecture that has been evolving over the last seventy years.   The Principles clearly demonstrate that there is already a robust body of law and precedent to draw on in respecting, protecting, and fulfilling the rights of future generations.   The Principles will help decision-makers answer fundamental questions about how to effectively incorporate the human rights of future generations into concrete laws, charters, and declarations.   The Principles will serve as a critical resource for judges, human rights bodies, decision-makers at all levels of government, and corporate actors who must align their business practices with the urgent realities posed by unlimited human activity in a fundamentally limited world.   What do the Principles say?   The Principles begin with the fundamental recognition that there is no temporal limitation to human rights in any of the foundational instruments in which they are recognized (such as the United Nations Charter or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).   This means that the global body of human rights norms already recognizes the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family, regardless of when they are born, including both present and future generations.   As States grapple with how to protect future generations, the Principles state that we must first recognize that future generations are inherently covered by the existing body of human rights law.   Therefore, respecting, protecting, and upholding the rights of future generations is simply a matter of upholding the most fundamental concept in human rights law: equality and non-discrimination.   In specific contexts, the Principles shed light on how profound and irreversible harm can discriminate against future generations. Destroying agricultural topsoils that take millennia to rebuild, polluting groundwaters that take many thousands of years to recharge, or rendering the very climate hostile to human life are all examples of irreparable discrimination. This illustrates that protecting rights demands a strong emphasis on precaution.   The full set of Principles provides detailed guidance and examples of how legal regimes must protect the full array of human rights for future generations in various contexts.   David Boyd, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, said: “The robust Maastricht Principles provide humanity with a compass to guide us out of the current global environmental crisis. Governments, businesses, and courts must adopt and apply these Principles so that we all learn to be good ancestors.”   Sebastien Duyck, senior attorney, human rights and climate campaign manager, CIEL, said: “The Maastricht Principles provide an extremely timely clarification of the existing legal obligations of States in relation to the protection of the human rights of future generations. In the context of ongoing political and judicial proceedings, we expect their impact to be far-reaching. They will provide a roadmap informing key upcoming UN summits and decisions by international courts and tribunals.”   Edith Brown Weiss, university professor emerita, Georgetown University, said: “We urgently need to consider future generations in our decisions today. The Maastricht Principles are a pioneering effort to implement human rights law for future generations.”   Vishal Prasad, campaign director, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, said: “The Maastricht Principles could not have come at a better time when the world has asked for precise clarification from the International Court of Justice on this theme. The Principles will undoubtedly and significantly add value to the current proceedings and will be instrumental in solidifying the status of intergenerational equity under international law.”   Daniel Magraw, senior fellow, Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, said: “There is remarkable overlap between what should be done to protect humans and nature now and what should be done to protect them in the future. The Maastricht Principles are complemented by the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment and are destined to be highly influential.”   Miloon Kothari, independent expert on human rights and social policy, said: “At a time of multiple crises facing the earth and humankind and questions about the very survival of the generations to come, the Maastricht Principles offer hope for future generations, through powerful provisions for sustaining land, livelihood, and life based on Indigenous knowledge and human rights principles. Compliance with these Principles carries with it great promise for the survival of future generations and for empowering human rights and thriving ecosystems.”   Ana María Suarez Franco, permanent representative in Geneva, FIAN, said: "The Maastricht Principles serve as an indispensable guide to ensure that discussions on solidarity with future generations at the 2024 Summit of the Future are firmly rooted in existing human rights law, thereby providing consistency in the work of the United Nations. These Principles are grounded in established international law, encompassing the jurisprudence of diverse courts worldwide. They also draw inspiration from diverse faith traditions and cosmologies, which emphasize the consideration of future generations when making decisions. They provide an optimal foundation for shaping policy and regulatory processes at national, regional, and international levels within the framework of intra- and intergenerational justice."   Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan climate justice activist, said: “We have the responsibility to ensure that the coming generations can have a better planet, a healthier planet. They have the right to the basic necessities of life: to clean air, to clean food, to clean water. They have the right to thrive on a beautiful planet. There is no planet B; that is why we have to ensure that we leave a better planet for the coming generations.”   http://www.rightsoffuturegenerations.org/the-principles Visit the related web page
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