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GOB, together with other socio-ecological groups, has been working intensively for some time in order to focus collective proposals aimed at an Eco social transition. The law that we are proposing in the Balearic Parliament has as its main purpose to guarantee the welfare of current and future generations. Once the law is admitted for processing, we will start a campaign to collect signatures so that it can be discussed in a plenary session.

We are clear in thinking about the world and particularly about the Balearic Islands that they are heading towards a complex social and ecological scenario:  the climate crisis, the massive loss of biodiversity, the scarcity of resources, require a collective confrontation to a future full of challenges that will change our social and economic organization.

We have no way of knowing, yet, what the magnitude of the changes will be that we as a society need to face. However, we do know that they will have a significant impact on our lives and on that of future generations. We also know that individuals and companies are obliged to rethink the way we live and consume, in order to mitigate economic and social risks and be able to offer a future with guarantees for generations to come.

The main purpose of the law we are presenting to Parliament is to guarantee the welfare of current and future generations, therefore:

1. Set the objectives to be achieved now for the welfare of current and future generations.
2. Determine the necessity to carry out an impact assessment report on the welfare of current and future generations, showing the potential impact with positive and negative repercussions on future generations as well as the ability to define a social, economic and environmental model in accordance with the objectives.
3. Determine the creation of a Commission for the welfare of current and future generations of the Balearic Islands. The Commission will be formed of a President, Secretary and a multidisciplinary technical committee with people who are experts in the fields of education, research and innovation, agro ecology and biodiversity, the mitigation of and adaptation to the climate crisis, social justice, the economic model, urbanisation, land and resources, equality and gender politics, immigration, culture, childhood and youth, public health.

We need an unprecedented legal framework that guarantees the preservation of life. We know that this is the only way out if we want to guarantee the future. We need a change in values and priorities that emanate from a standard framework that permeates throughout all economic, public and private sectors both in social spheres and in the areas of public health, and in the resources and the environment that sustain us. Only this way will life and our future be possible.

What is a People’s Legislative Initiative?

It is a mechanism for direct democracy:  the public can propose legal initiatives without the mediation of political parties. These proposals have to be supported by a number of signatures and, according to the current law in force in the Balearic Islands, 7,500 are required.

What do we want to achieve with this bill?

We want, by law, all these rules, plans, programmes and administrative acts to be assessed for their potential impacts and repercussions, both positive and negative, on current and future generations.  In summary, we want to know how the life of people and the environment will be affected by those projects that, by their magnitude, can decisively condition the environment and social justice.

Process

The proposed legislation has been registered in Parliament and is now pending admission for processing by the Parliamentary Office, as established. From that moment on an intensive, four-month campaign will be launched, to collect and notarise, the signatures required to be able to endorse the proposal. Thus, an intense social mobilisation throughout the land will begin in order to emphasise how the policies of today need to respond for the generations of tomorrow.