The only way Britain can help fight climate change is by appointing a Minister for the Future

A dedicated minister tasked with looking ahead would have a unique voice that reminds government its responsibility lies far beyond the next electoral cycle

Protesters in Paris call for faster action from world governments over climate change.

Within just over 40 years, according to the UN median projection, there are likely to be 10 billion people on the planet: Five to six billion of those haven’t even been born yet. The world they will inherit is being determined by us. At the moment it looks like being a hotter world, shorn of much of its forest and desperately short of fresh water. In short, a world far less capable of supporting humanity than the one we inherited.

Modern politics fails us with its short-termism. But worse, it fails the generations to come.

Politicians of all shades have long recognised our responsibilities to future generations. This awareness defies all left and right pigeonholing. Mahatma Gandhi pointed out that, “The earth, the air, the land and the water are not an inheritance from our forefathers but on loan from our children.” Margaret Thatcher likewise saw that: “No generation has a freehold on this earth. All we have is a life tenancy—with a full repairing lease.”

Both make an obvious point, yet it’s one that we as a society seem unable to adhere to. There is little point attempting to protect the inheritance of our children and grandchildren while simultaneously condemning them to a ruined world. We are in danger of giving them a legacy that is literally toxic.

Back in 2012, one of our young producers, Hugo Godwin, came into the office hugely impressed and shaken by a play he had seen the previous night. The play was Stephen Emmott’s Ten Billion at the Royal Court. Reading the reviews, it seemed to join the dots connecting the multiple planetary problems we face and for which we are responsible. Within a year we were making the play into a film. As film producers, we didn’t come from a specifically “green” perspective but we were utterly convinced by the incredible force of Stephen’s arguments.

If we don’t act fast and on a huge scale, the dangers that face our planet - from rising sea levels, loss of biodiversity and climate change to freshwater scarcity - will prove devastating. It isn’t a question of cost: many of the things we are destroying are resources that money literally cannot buy.

We need to change our mindset to deal with this. To do that, we should have politicians and civil servants, nationally and internationally, tasked specifically with dealing with the long-term - a voice at the cabinet table making the case for future generations.

A Minister for the Future would would have a unique voice that reminds government that its responsibility lies far beyond the next electoral cycle. It has a duty to look at the projected impact of its policies, not just five or 10, but 100 years into the future. Enshrining our responsibilities in this way will give a powerful voice to those yet to be born and force us to balance the present and the future in a way that is currently not happening.

Politicians have thought ahead, they have thought big and acted globally. One example is the Montreal Protocol ratified in 1987 by the UN: the Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer instituted a global ban on CFCs which were causing damage to the ozone layer. It worked; the large hole in the layer over the Antarctic will have shrunk back to its pre 1980-size within 40 years.

It may take 100 Montreal Protocols to sustain the planet for our descendants, but then so be it. This is our responsibility, and a dedicated minister will help us measure up to it.

Mark Bentley is Head Of Drama at Oxford Film and Television and producer of the film Ten Billion