The rights of future generations have long been neglected in the analysis and application of human rights. Yet, human rights law does not limit itself to present generations. The foundations for international law to address the rights of future generations are established in international instruments in an array of subject areas spanning nearly a century; constitutions and legislative acts adopted by the majority of the World’s States; in the laws, traditions, and cosmologies of Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities from every continent; and in the doctrine of major faith traditions representing the majority of the world’s people.

The Maastricht Principles on the Human Rights of Future Generations seek to clarify the present state of international law as it applies to the human rights of future generations. The Principles consolidate the developing legal framework and affirm binding obligations of States and other actors as prescribed under international and human rights law.

The Principles represent the result of a process of nearly six years of research, dialogue, and analysis, drawing on the expertise, experience, and perspectives of some two hundred legal and human rights researchers and practitioners, national and regional current or former human rights mandate holders, members of Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities, and representatives from civil society organizations and social movements. They build on historic traditions and knowledge spanning millennia. CIEL, human rights organization FIAN, and academic experts from the universities of Lancaster and Maastricht supported the experts who produced the Principles.

The Principles were adopted in Maastricht on 3 February 2023. This initiative builds on expert legal opinions adopted in Maastricht, the Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1986); the Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1997); and the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2011) and its accompanying commentary.

To learn more about the Principles, visit RightsOfFutureGenerations.org.