World Future Council
A German non-profit foundation that promotes policies intended to protect future generations and nature.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The World Future Council (WFC) is a German non-profit foundation headquartered in Hamburg that works to promote policies designed to safeguard the rights and interests of future generations and protect the natural environment. Rather than operating as a commercial brand, it functions as an international policy platform, research organization, advocacy network, and convening institution. Its work is directed at identifying public policies that have already demonstrated practical value and encouraging governments and other decision-makers to adapt and implement them. The council was established in 2007 in the context of growing concern about climate change, ecological degradation, resource constraints, and the long-term effects of present-day political and economic choices. Its central premise is that democratic decision-making should account more explicitly for people who are not yet born, as well as for the ecological systems on which societies depend. In this respect, the WFC links futures thinking with environmental policy, intergenerational justice, and sustainable development. A major part of the organization’s public profile comes from the World Future Policy Award. The award recognizes laws and policy frameworks regarded by the council as particularly effective, innovative, and beneficial for future generations. Award themes have covered issues associated with sustainable development, climate protection, renewable energy, food systems, oceans, biodiversity, and related areas of public policy. Through the award and its accompanying research, the WFC seeks to shift attention from abstract commitments toward concrete legal and institutional solutions. The organization also maintains FuturePolicy.org, an online resource intended to help policy-makers find and compare tested policy approaches. The database and associated publications address subjects including renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable cities, food production under climate pressure, and other global challenges. The WFC supports this work through reports, books, films, hearings, conferences, and direct engagement with political and civic stakeholders. Its research and communications have included work on feed-in tariffs, renewable-energy deployment, ecological urban development, climate change, and long-term approaches to global governance. Publications associated with the council and its network include works by Miguel Mendonça, David Jacobs, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Herbert Girardet, and Jakob von Uexkull. These materials have helped frame the organization’s practical emphasis on policy instruments that can be adopted by governments rather than only broad aspirational goals. The WFC operates internationally while retaining its institutional base in Germany. It is not a listed company, does not report commercial sales, and has no publicly relevant stock ticker. Its influence is primarily measured through policy research, international partnerships, public recognition programs, and the circulation of policy models. The council’s ongoing role is that of a future-oriented civil-society organization seeking to make long-term consequences and ecological limits more central to public decision-making.
History
The World Future Council emerged in 2007 as a German foundation created to strengthen political consideration of long-term consequences, future generations, and environmental limits. Its establishment was associated with Jakob von Uexkull and the broader effort to create an institution that could connect futures thinking with practical public policy. The council’s headquarters are in Hamburg, while its subject matter and partnerships are international. From its beginning, the WFC has concentrated on the gap between the existence of effective policy solutions and their limited adoption by governments. Its approach is not primarily to invent technologies or provide commercial services, but to identify laws, regulations, and institutional models that have worked in particular jurisdictions and make them more visible to decision-makers elsewhere. This orientation has placed renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable urban development, food systems, climate adaptation, and ecological protection among its recurring areas of work. The council’s policy program has been supported by publications, public hearings, films, conferences, and collaborations with researchers and practitioners. Its associated literature has examined instruments such as feed-in tariffs and the role of renewable-energy policy in accelerating the transition to a greener economy. Other works connected with its network have addressed climate chaos, ecological equality, and the development of more livable cities. These publications helped establish the WFC’s practical and solution-oriented identity. The World Future Policy Award became one of the organization’s most recognizable initiatives. It uses an international awards format to draw attention to public policies considered especially beneficial for future generations. By highlighting examples from different countries and policy fields, the award serves both a communications purpose and a policy-transfer purpose: it celebrates successful approaches while encouraging officials and civil-society groups to study whether they can be adapted to other contexts. FuturePolicy.org complements the award by providing an online collection of policy solutions. The platform is designed for policy-makers and other users seeking examples of established approaches to major global problems. Its subject areas have included renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable cities, and food production in an era of climate change. The database extends the council’s role from publishing analysis to facilitating the discovery and comparison of policies. Over time, the WFC has continued to frame its work around intergenerational justice and the protection of nature. Its programs reflect the view that environmental and social challenges cannot be handled adequately through short electoral or investment cycles alone. The organization therefore advocates decision-making that takes account of long-term ecological resilience and the rights of people who will live with the consequences of current choices. The council remains a non-profit foundation rather than a commercial enterprise. Its institutional outputs are research, policy recommendations, convening, public recognition, and knowledge-sharing. The 2025 World Future Policy Award ceremony, held at an IUCN conference in Abu Dhabi and focused on living in harmony with nature and future generations, illustrates the continuing use of the award to connect the organization’s long-term mission with contemporary international environmental policy discussions.
- 2025
World Future Policy Award addresses harmony with nature
[1]The 2025 award ceremony took place at an IUCN conference in Abu Dhabi and focused on living in harmony with nature and future generations.
- 2009
Green-economy and renewable-energy publications
[1]Works on feed-in tariffs, renewable energy, ecological equality, and the green economy expanded the council’s policy research profile.
- 2008
Research on cities and global challenges
[1]Publications associated with the council’s network examined livable cities, climate disruption, and broader long-term global challenges.
- 2007
World Future Council established
[1]The World Future Council was established as a German non-profit foundation intended to promote policies that protect future generations and nature.
- 2007
Publication on feed-in tariffs
[1]Miguel Mendonça’s book Feed-in Tariffs: Accelerating the Deployment of Renewable Energy was published, reflecting the council’s interest in practical renewable-energy policy instruments.
Products and positioning
An international, non-profit policy organization focused on practical laws and governance models that protect future generations, nature, and long-term societal well-being.
Policy award
World Future Policy Award
The World Future Policy Award is the council’s signature recognition program. It identifies and publicizes laws or policy frameworks judged to offer exemplary benefits for future generations and nature. Themes vary by edition and have included areas such as renewable energy, climate protection, food systems, oceans, and biodiversity. The award is designed to give successful public-policy models international visibility and encourage their adaptation in other jurisdictions.
Online policy database
FuturePolicy.org
FuturePolicy.org is an online repository of policy solutions assembled for decision-makers and other users looking for practical responses to major global challenges. Its coverage includes renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable cities, and food production under climate change. The platform extends the WFC’s research and advocacy work by making examples of established policy approaches easier to locate and compare.
Research and publishing
Policy research and publications
The council produces and supports books, reports, briefings, hearings, films, and other materials concerning future-just governance. Recurring subjects include feed-in tariffs, renewable-energy deployment, sustainable cities, climate change, ecological equality, and the protection of future generations. These outputs are intended to translate broad sustainability goals into concrete policy options.
Recent events
- 2025
World Future Policy Award highlights policies for living in harmony with nature and future generations[1]
Other
The 2025 World Future Policy Award ceremony was held during an IUCN conference in Abu Dhabi. The award theme focused on living in harmony with nature and future generations.
Sources2 sources
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