Handbook of Intergenerational Justice

This book is edited by Dr Joerg Chet Tremmel, scientific director and founder in 1997 of the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations (FRFG), based in Oberursel, Germany. The first edition of this book appeared in German: Handbuck Generationengerechtigkeit, Munich, Oekom Verlag, 2003. Tremmel states in the introduction that the concept of “Intergenerational Justice” may become an intellectual leitmotiv of the new century - for the moment, we are sure, it is the leitmotiv of this book. The volume explores the views of 19 contributors from various countries and different scientific backgrounds, mainly specialists in philosophy and law. Every one of them focuses on the same subject with many repetitions. Effectively 350 pages are too much for discussing this question. Globally speaking, it is quite a difficult text, because it refers to political, national and international documents and decisions. Volume’s part one describes Foundations and Definitions of General Justice and part two Institutionalisation of General Justice. The term institutionalization describes the measures taken to safeguard the interests of future generations through institutions or written laws. Future Generations rights were first mentioned in the preamble of the United Nations’ Charter where one of the aims of establishing UN was “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war”. Among public documents, the French Constitutional Charter for the Environment - the first action on sustainable development entered into a Constitution - is described in the book. Since the 1960’s the concept of the common good evolved from a national to a supranational level and in the 1970’s was redefined from a broader perspective involving the common good of the human species. The concept of commitment towards future generations has spread to the field of law as well. The Commission for Future generations in the Knesset – the Israeli parliament - is based on religious matters. One of the Commission main goals is to install mechanisms that are designed to consider long-term interests ensuring that they are protected by law (Shoham and Lamay, p. 244, 257). The Ombudsman for Future Generations has been established in 2000 by the association “Protect the Future” in Hungary, where it is also working a network of NGOs representing Future Generations (REFUGE).