Intergenerational Justice and Youth Participation

The report defines intergenerational justice as an ethical obligation to balance present needs with the needs of future generations, incorporating distributive, procedural, and recognitional dimensions. It highlights that youth view themselves as current stakeholders and proxies for the future, provided they have meaningful participation and institutional support. The document identifies a broad range of youth concerns, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and mental health, and argues for integrated solutions over single-issue fixes. It examines various European participatory mechanisms, such as Youth Councils and participatory budgeting, and recommends strengthening these through improved accountability, diversity, and intergenerational dialogue.

• Intergenerational justice is defined as an ethical obligation to ensure present needs are met without compromising future generations, utilizing a holistic approach that combines restorative, procedural, and distributive strategies to address historical injustices.
• Youth participants view their role as current stakeholders and proxies for future generations, but this is dependent on the existence of institutional support, transparent feedback, and meaningful participation.
• Youth concerns are wide-ranging, covering local and global issues such as biodiversity loss, climate change, urban green spaces, and mental health, with an emphasis that solutions must integrate governance, social, and technical approaches.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2025). Intergenerational Justice and Youth Participation. https://www.sei.org/publications/intergenerational-justice-and-youth-participation/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Intergenerational Justice and Youth Participation. 2025. https://www.sei.org/publications/intergenerational-justice-and-youth-participation/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Intergenerational Justice and Youth Participation |date=3 December 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/intergenerational-justice-and-youth-participation/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2025intergenerational, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Intergenerational Justice and Youth Participation}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/intergenerational-justice-and-youth-participation/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }