UEA philosopher: You know what we need? An unelected "jury" that sits above existing law-making bodies with the power to veto any legislation that might cause future people to be harmed by trace amounts of CO2

Future generations risk 'enslavement' without a vote now | Damian Carrington | Environment | guardian.co.uk

It's a new year, so let's start with a new idea: a democratic body to safeguard the basic needs and fundamental interests of future people.

That is the proposal of Rupert Read, a philosopher at the University of East Anglia, in a report called Guardians of the Future for the think tank Green House. The core idea is both radical and straightforward: a council of "Guardians of Future Generations", chosen like a jury from the general public, would sit above the existing law-making bodies and have two core powers. A power to veto legislation that threatened the basic needs and interests of future people and the power to force a review, following suitable public petition, of any existing legislation that threatens the interests of future people.