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Write a Letter to Future Generations About The World you Hope They Inherit: Check Samples & Format

dear future generations essay

  • Updated on  
  • May 3, 2024

A Letter to Future Generations About The World you Hope They Inherit

Reflecting on a future is always full of expectations. And what if the future holds hopes and dreams for the upcoming generations who will one day inherit the Earth? Everyone dreams of a world where people can live regardless of race, gender, or nationality and are treated with dignity and equality. A world powered by renewable energy where climate change is no longer a threat. A world where advancement in technology is used ethically to empower humanity rather than endanger it. Though today we are facing conflicts but believe in a world where people at present can build a world that is more peaceful tomorrow if paved with conscience, care, and collective action.

Let us delve into 3 samples of letter writing where we will be talking about all positive actions and changes that we can do today for the betterment of future generations about the world we hope they inherit. Further to help you more refer to the format and ideas that can be written more about it.

Master the art of essay writing with our blog on How to Write an Essay in English .

Table of Contents

  • 1 Ideas and Points to Include in Letter to Future Generations About the World You Hope They Inherit
  • 2 Sample 1: Write a Letter to Future Generations about the World you Hope they Inherit
  • 3 Sample 2: Write a Letter to Future Generations About the World you Hope They Inherit
  • 4 Sample 3: Write a Letter to Future Generations about the World you Hope they Inherit

Also Read: Essay on Labour Day

Ideas and Points to Include in Letter to Future Generations About the World You Hope They Inherit

Here are some ideas and points you could include in a letter to future generations:

Also Read: Write a Letter to Your Friend About Tree Plantation Programme in Your School: Check Samples and Format

Sample 1: Write a Letter to Future Generations about the World you Hope they Inherit

Dear Future Generations,

As I write this letter today in the year 2024, I hope the world you have inherited is one of peace, equality, and environment-friendly. While today we are facing many global challenges, I am optimistic that through our compassion and collective action, we will be able to pass on a sustainable future for all.

My greatest hope for the future is that your generation will have finally put an end to all the wars, violence, and weapons destruction. I dream of a world where resources that are used for conflicts should be used for the creation of creative and useful materials that can bring human suffering to an end. A world where differences are resolved through open two-way communication and mutual understanding. A world where nonviolence is taught and valued from a very young age.

Furthermore, I also hope that you are living in a world of equality. People have similar opportunities regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or social status and are treated with dignity. A beautiful world where diversity is celebrated as the strength of humans and education dismantles the oppression that limits certain groups. 

And more importantly, I hope the natural environment is flourishing in your time. Your generation must have the foresight to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, to protect ecosystems, and to live in better harmony with nature. I can very well imagine those vibrant forests, clean running water, and an abundance of wildlife. I also hope that you have clean air to breathe and locally-grown organic food to eat. Your generation must have good control over not using hazardous materials that harm the environment. 

I know the path to this ideal world has many challenges, but still, I believe that young people like you have the passion and have potential to bring positive change. I hope that you will build on the progress made by those before you. It does not matter how big the change is made but still the dream to create a sustainable environment for the next generation will be made with more power and accomplishment. 

Though our generations cannot see the fruits of our hard work still I am confident enough that each step will get us closer to the same purpose and thoughts of healthy and global peace. 

I wish you all the best in the world you inherit. May you fill everything with more light, justice, and care for one another and the Earth. 
With hope,
Shelly

Check out our Speech on Autism

Also Read: Write a Letter to Your Friend Telling Him About the Celebration of Earth Day in Your School: Check Samples

Sample 2: Write a Letter to Future Generations About the World you Hope They Inherit

Dear Future Generations,

As you read this letter, I hope that you are living in a more just, peaceful, and stable world than the one I know today. Though we are facing many global challenges in the year 2024, still I believe all the toughness will be overcome if we join together and keep working on the spirit of humanity, love, and compassion. 

I believe that in your time people will realize that only through cooperation, partnership, and caring for one another, people will only get to achieve the aim of humanity. A successful rise in love between people will heal the destructive idea of separation by nation, race, religion, or ethnicity. People of your generation are the citizens of the world first and very well understand that oppressing any group leads to destruction.

Furthermore, I imagine that technology is being used wisely in your time to connect, uplift, and empower all people instead of dividing, isolating, and spreading misinformation. You are deeply concerned for our planet and we know that even a small action can have a large knock-on effect. With this understanding of harmony with nature, your generation will power the world of renewable energy. 

My greatest hope is that you have inherited a world that is free from violence. Warfare, weapons that lead to massive destruction, and systems of fear-based control have no place in your society. People from your generation have learned to resolve conflicts through compassionate communication, mediation, and recognition of our shared humanity. Resources that were once spent on war must be feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and sheltering the vulnerable.

While today our generation is feeling monumental challenges, still I have faith in the goodness of the human spirit and the capacity to change. Of course, this requires perseverance, sacrifice, and believing that it is possible to build a world if we dare to dream. My prayer is that you do not take the fruits of past struggles for granted instead learn from their experience and march forward bravely. 

May the world you inherit be filled with more light than the one before.
With hope and joy,
Sahil 

Also Read: Write A Letter To Your Friend Sharing Your Feelings And Ideas About Your College Life: Check Samples

Sample 3: Write a Letter to Future Generations about the World you Hope they Inherit

Also Read: Write A Letter To Your Friend Inviting To Your Village: Check Samples

Ans: Here are the ideas to start a letter to the future generation: Start a letter to future generations with Dear Future Generation. Express your hopes and dreams for the world you wished for them to inherit. Moreover, share your vision, for equality, compassion, and sustainable development. 

Ans: I hope to give future generations a word that is free from violence, discrimination, destruction, and poverty. 

Ans: To write a letter to the future, raise your voice about the hopes, dreams, and guidance about the world you hope to live in. Also discuss the values, advances, and changes that you wish to see in the society for their future. 

Ans: The future generation will shape the destiny of the world. We must pave the path for the future generation through our actions, ethics, policies, and progress. It is important to understand that our today is their tomorrow.

Ans: The concept of future generation refers to our responsibility towards what we are building for our future. We must care for the planet and should create a world as well as remedies to all the problems throughout our past and in the present for an improved world for them. 

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Deepika Joshi

Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with educational and informative content expertise. She has hands-on experience in Education, Study Abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and analysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particularly in the education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs related to her field to expand her expertise further. In her personal life, she loves creative writing and aspires to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

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Prince Ea—the stage name of American rapper, spoken word artist, and civil rights activist Richard Williams from St. Louis— has done it again. Just in time for Earth Day, he  launched one of the most powerful videos I have ever seen about mitigating climate change -- in the first 48 hours, it had over 29 million views . This apology to future generations for the harm we have caused our planet has an incredibly profound and poignant message that we should all pay attention to.    

The purpose of the video is to raise awareness about the alarming rates of deforestation and the reckless destruction of our environment for which we are ALL responsible. Most importantly, this video serves as a platform to inspire citizens of the world to take IMMEDIATE action to stop climate change. How? by protecting threatened forests through the  Stand for Trees campaign .

Stand for Trees is an online initiative created by the amazing environmental NGO  Code REDD . It offers a tangible way for the general public to take direct action to combat climate change through crowd-funding the protection of threatened forests. Learn more here . 

THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!! I don’t know about you, but I am tired of hearing about the imminent catastrophe that climate change is going to cause, without being given any solutions or tangible ways that I can personally make a difference. I’m tired of waiting for the gatekeepers who hold all of the power to fix this terrifying problem, but won’t because they are influenced by special interest groups to say and do nothing. I’m tired of relying on slow moving systems and bureaucracies that are risking our future by taking their sweet time to address the dangerous effects of climate change. What I really love about this video and this campaign is that it reminded me that WE THE PEOPLE have the power to make a difference. Something we really shouldn’t forget.

Wildlife and eco hero Mike Korchinsky is the  genius behind the Stand for Trees campaign and  Wildlife Works , an amazing company that protects threatened forests by making them more valuable alive than dead (see below for more information). Korchinsky articulates the power of this campaign perfectly:  “The Stand for Trees campaign was designed to put the power to save forests in the hands of the people to whom the future matters most: young people.”

So, last month, Prince Ea traveled to Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to witness firsthand the horrors of tropical deforestation. He also visited some of the pioneering forest conservation projects that were developed by Wildlife Works. They demonstrate a successful and innovative way to stop deforestation by rewarding forest communities who conserve their forests. THIS IS BRILLIANT. The Wildlife Works projects that Prince Ea visited represent two of twelve forest conservation projects participating in the new Stand for Trees campaign. 

I had the honor of interviewing Prince Ea earlier this week to get his perspective on this incredible video and the powerful message he is sending to the world:  

What was your inspiration to do a video on Climate Change and the role of forests?

Prince Ea: When Wildlife Works reached out to me, and told me what was going on, I did research and dove into the literature. What I found was some very shocking information that truly inspired me to want to inform the masses about this subject.  You know, there are very detrimental processes that are reaching a tipping point and people need to be made aware, so that was the initial inspiration. I just felt like I wanted to be a voice.  

As you were researching information about the looming catastrophic effects of climate change, what facts stood out and shocked you the most?

Prince Ea: Number one, I didn’t know that deforestation contributed more to CO2 emissions than ALL of the transportation sectors combined. That’s startling. Another salient point was, the destruction of the trees in and of itself. 40 football fields every 60 seconds. That’s shocking to anybody.

What do you want people to know most about climate change and the role of forests and what do you hope people will  do with this information?

Prince Ea: I want people to know that we are affecting the climate, and yes the climate has been warmer at periods of times, yes there’s been more carbon in the atmosphere, but since the Industrial Revolution we have been pumping so much so fast that we can’t really control what’s going to happen. THIS is the issue. I want people to know and learn about environmental responsibility, I want people to change their relationship to the environment. Like I put in the song, to realize we’re not apart from nature, we are a part of nature. And to really just change our hearts. That’s what I want people to do with the information.

What do you hope to achieve with this video?

Prince Ea: I want people to become aware, simply put. It was a piece to spread awareness and to get people involved. To actively take steps to stop the destruction of the forests. So that we can actually bring mainstream attention to the issue.

I heard that you visited the Wildlife Works REDD+ projects in Kenya and the DRC. Can you tell me about your journey, what it was like to see deforestation first hand and how forest communities are protecting their forests for the benefit of all of humanity and biodiversity?

Prince Ea: That’s a big question right there. What I did see was, innovation. For Wildlife Works to essentially make trees more valuable alive than dead, to provide that incentive is great. It’s an innovative measure, an innovative step that I’m glad we’re taking. And we need to take more steps in that direction. It’s a beautiful thing. My journey was incredible and I had a lot of great experiences. It was worldview altering, it was life changing. I made some friends, met a bunch of good people and it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. The whole journey was beautiful and I can’t even express what it meant to me in words.

Is there anything else you want to say?

Prince Ea: I want people to not only see the video, but to take action . I want people who see the video to take that extra step. But to also take that step internally. That’s the real way that we’re ever going to change the world, is if we look inside. If every individual looks inside. That’s the only way that the world is going to really change and evolve. We can change laws, we can do this and do that on the outside, and those are great and necessary. But for me, I’m an artist, that wants to touch the root. And in the song I talk about how the root is the people. And the root of the person is a human heart. I want to touch people’s hearts with my words, and let things take their course after that. 

I can’t thank you enough, Prince Ea, for all of the incredible work that you do and for taking the time to share this journey with all of the global citizens out there. We need more voices like yours in the world. Protecting our environment is such a critically important task and I honestly believe that it is the single most important cause of our generation. As Prince Ea states in the video,

“it is up to us to take care of this planet, it is our only home. To betray nature is to betray us. To save nature is to save us. Because whatever you’re fighting for, racism or poverty. Feminism, gay rights or any type of equality. It won’t matter in the least. Because if we don’t all work together to save the environment, we will be equally extinct.”

On this Earth Day, I encourage you to stand up for our environment global citizens, and to Stand for Trees. To do your part to save our planet. Nothing matters more. I’ll leave you all with this:

A wise man once said: “when the rivers have all dried up and the trees are all cut down, man will then realize… that he will not be able to eat money.” 

About Prince Ea

Activist, spoken word artist and viral sensation with millions of fans, Prince Ea’s thought-provoking pieces deliver important social messages with wit, passion, and hard-hitting punch lines to inspire positive change.

In late 2009, Prince Ea, upset at the present state of the music industry, decided to form a movement named “Make ‘SMART’ Cool,” where SMART is short for Sophisticating Minds And Revolutionizing Thought. The movement attempts to promote intelligence to everyone, everywhere and integrate it with hip-hop without discrimination or preference.

Along with Prince Ea’s internet success, he has also been featured in both national and local publications including Huffington Post, CBS, FOX, Yahoo Music, VIBE Magazine and DISCOVER Magazine. His spoken word pieces have been featured nationwide in various publications and talk shows including the Queen Latifah Show and the Blaze with Glenn Beck. His alias, Prince Ea, is derived from Sumerian mythology, “The Prince of the Earth.”

About Wildlife Works

Wildlife Works protects threatened forests, including the wildlife that inhabits them by providing forest communities with a transformative sustainable development path. Since 1997, the company has worked with communities in developing countries to help them manage their transition away from forest destruction towards sustainable economic development utilizing job creation as a core conservation strategy. In 2010, Wildlife Works delivered the world’s first REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) VERs (Verified Emission Reductions) from its pioneering REDD+ project in Kenya.

REDD+ places a value on standing forests as a key element in mitigating climate change and sells that value to progressive corporate leaders who are committed to reducing the carbon footprint of their organizations on a voluntary basis.  Wildlife Works protects 1.24 million acres of forest in Kenya and the DRC mitigating approximately 7 million tons of carbon emissions annually.

About Stand for Trees

Stand for Trees is a first of its kind consumer campaign that uses the power of social media and crowd-funding to enable everyone to take real and effective action to reduce deforestation and curb climate change. Through an innovative mobile web solution, individuals can now purchase ‘Stand For Trees Certificates’ – high quality, REDD+ verified carbon credits – to help communities protect endangered forests and wildlife by supporting sustainable livelihoods. The campaign was founded by Code REDD.

Defend the Planet

Activist Prince Ea Has A Message To Future Generations: Sorry

April 22, 2015

Protest sign: "Fight today for a better tomorrow"

What do we owe future generations? And what can we do to make their world a better place?

dear future generations essay

Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Australian Catholic University

Disclosure statement

Michael Noetel receives funding from the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, the Centre for Effective Altruism, and Sport Australia. He is a Director of Effective Altruism Australia.

Australian Catholic University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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Your great grandchildren are powerless in today’s society. As Oxford philosopher William MacAskill says:

They cannot vote or lobby or run for public office, so politicians have scant incentive to think about them. They can’t bargain or trade with us, so they have little representation in the market, And they can’t make their views heard directly: they can’t tweet, or write articles in newspapers, or march in the streets. They are utterly disenfranchised.

But the things we do now influence them: for better or worse. We make laws that govern them, build infrastructure for them and take out loans for them to pay back. So what happens when we consider future generations while we make decisions today?

Review: What We Owe the Future – William MacAskill (OneWorld)

This is the key question in What We Owe the Future . It argues for what MacAskill calls longtermism: “the idea that positively influencing the longterm future is a key moral priority of our time.” He describes it as an extension of civil rights and women’s suffrage; as humanity marches on, we strive to consider a wider circle of people when making decisions about how to structure our societies.

MacAskill makes a compelling case that we should consider how to ensure a good future not only for our children’s children, but also the children of their children. In short, MacAskill argues that “future people count, there could be a lot of them, and we can make their lives go better.”

Read more: Friday essay: 'I feel my heart breaking today' – a climate scientist's path through grief towards hope

Future people count

It’s hard to feel for future people. We are bad enough at feeling for our future selves. As The Simpsons puts it: “That’s a problem for future Homer. Man, I don’t envy that guy.”

We all know we should protect our health for our own future. In a similar vein, MacAskill argues that we all “know” future people count.

Concern for future generations is common sense across diverse intellectual traditions […] When we dispose of radioactive waste, we don’t say, “Who cares if this poisons people centuries from now?” Similarly, few of us who care about climate change or pollution do so solely for the sake of people alive today. We build museums and parks and bridges that we hope will last for generations; we invest in schools and longterm scientific projects; we preserve paintings, traditions, languages; we protect beautiful places.

There could be a lot of future people

Future people count, and MacAskill counts those people. The sheer number of future people might make their wellbeing a key moral priority. According to MacAskill and others, humanity’s future could be vast : much, much more than the 8 billion alive today.

While it’s hard to feel the gravitas, our actions may affect a dizzying number of people. Even if we last just 1 million years, as long as the average mammal – and even if the global population fell to 1 billion people – then there would be 9.1 trillion people in the future.

We might struggle to care, because these numbers can be hard to feel . Our emotions don’t track well against large numbers. If I said a nuclear war would kill 500 million people, you might see that as a “huge problem”. If I instead said that the number is actually closer to 5 billion , it still feels like a “huge problem”. It does not emotionally feel 10 times worse. If we risk the trillions of people who could live in the future, that could be 1,000 times worse – but it doesn’t feel 1,000 times worse.

MacAskill does not argue we should give those people 1,000 times more concern than people alive today. Likewise, MacAskill does not say we should morally weight a person living a million years from now exactly the same as someone alive 10 or 100 years from now. Those distinctions won’t change what we can feasibly achieve now, given how hard change can be.

Instead, he shows if we care about future people at all, even those 100 years hence, we should simply be doing more . Fortunately, there are concrete things humanity can do.

Read more: Labor's climate change bill is set to become law – but 3 important measures are missing

We can make the lives of future people better

Another reason we struggle to be motivated by big problems is that they feel insurmountable. This is a particular concern with future generations. Does anything I do make a difference, or is it a drop in the bucket? How do we know what to do when the long-run effects are so uncertain ?

book cover of What We Owe the Future

Even present-day problems can feel hard to tackle. At least for those problems we can get fast, reliable feedback on progress. Even with that advantage, we struggle. For the second year in a row, we did not make progress toward our sustainable development goals, like reducing war, poverty, and increasing growth. Globally, 4.3% of children still die before the age of five. COVID-19 has killed about 23 million people . Can we – and should we – justify focusing on future generations when we face these problems now?

MacAskill argues we can. Because the number of people is so large, he also argues we should. He identifies some areas where we could do things that protect the future while also helping people who are alive now. Many solutions are win-win.

For example, the current pandemic has shown that unforeseen events can have a devastating effect. Yet, despite the recent pandemic, many governments have done little to set up more robust systems that could prevent the next pandemic. MacAskill outlines ways in which those future pandemics could be worse.

Most worrying are the threats from engineered pathogens, which

[…] could be much more destructive than natural pathogens because they can be modified to have dangerous new properties. Could someone design a pathogen with maximum destructive power—something with the lethality of Ebola and the contagiousness of measles?

He gives examples, like militaries and terrorist groups, that have tried to engineer pathogens in the past.

The risk of an engineered pandemic wiping us all out in the next 100 years is between 0.1% and 3%, according to estimates laid out in the book.

That might sound low, but MacAskill argues we would not step on a plane if you were told “it ‘only’ had a one-in-a-thousand chance of crashing and killing everyone on board”. These threaten not only future generations, but people reading this – and everyone they know.

MacAskill outlines ways in which we might be able to prevent engineered pandemics, like researching better personal protective equipment, cheaper and faster diagnostics, better infrastructure, or better governance of synthetic biology. Doing so would help save the lives of people alive today, reduce the risk of technological stagnation and protect humanity’s future.

The same win-wins might apply to decarbonisation , safe development of artificial intelligence , reducing risks from nuclear war , and other threats to humanity.

Read more: Even a 'limited' nuclear war would starve millions of people, new study reveals

Things you can do to protect future generations

Some “longtermist” issues, like climate change, are already firmly in the public consciousness. As a result, some may find MacAskill’s book “common sense”. Others may find the speculation about the far future pretty wild (like all possible views of the longterm future).

MacAskill strikes an accessible balance between anchoring the arguments to concrete examples, while making modest extrapolations into the future. He helps us see how “common sense” principles can lead to novel or neglected conclusions.

For example, if there is any moral weight on future people, then many common societal goals (like faster economic growth) are vastly less important than reducing risks of extinction (like nuclear non-proliferation). It makes humanity look like an “imprudent teenager”, with many years ahead, but more power than wisdom:

Even if you think [the risk of extinction] is only a one-in-a-thousand, the risk to humanity this century is still ten times higher than the risk of your dying this year in a car crash. If humanity is like a teenager, then she is one who speeds around blind corners, drunk, without wearing a seat belt.

Our biases toward present, local problems are strong, so connecting emotionally with the ideas can be hard. But MacAskill makes a compelling case for longtermism through clear stories and good metaphors. He answers many questions I had about safeguarding the future. Will the future be good or bad? Would it really matter if humanity ended? And, importantly, is there anything I can actually do?

The short answer is yes, there is. Things you might already do help, like minimising your carbon footprint – but MacAskill argues “other things you can do are radically more impactful”. For example, reducing your meat consumption would address climate change, but donating money to the world’s most effective climate charities might be far more effective.

Beyond donations, three other personal decisions seem particularly high impact to me: political activism, spreading good ideas, and having children […] But by far the most important decision you will make, in terms of your lifetime impact, is your choice of career.

MacAskill points to a range of resources – many of which he founded – that guide people in these areas. For those who might have flexibility in their career, MacAskill founded 80,000 Hours , which helps people find impactful, satisfying careers. For those trying to donate more impactfully, he founded Giving What We Can. And, for spreading good ideas, he started a social movement called Effective Altruism .

Longtermism is one of those good ideas. It helps us better place our present in humanity’s bigger story. It’s humbling and inspiring to see the role we can play in protecting the future. We can enjoy life now and safeguard the future for our great grandchildren. MasAskill clearly shows that we owe it to them.

  • Climate change
  • Generations
  • Future generations
  • Effective altruism
  • Longtermism

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People promising to take action on climate change

Dear Future Generations,

I am sorry that we were all too caught up in our own doings to do anything to help our earth. We didn’t know what we had until it was gone. I’m sorry about the polluted oceans, flooding cities and the unbreathable air. I’m done being sorry because an error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it. This future I do not accept it. This generation is where we start to make a difference. We must take care of the earth today because it is our only home. This generation must realize we are not apart from nature but rather a part of nature. To betray nature is to betray us; to save nature is to save us. I plan to start now. Otherwise, there is no way to be certain there will be a future generation to write to. We need to work together and look beyond the issues that divide us, because at the end of the day, if we don’t work together to save our environment, we will all be equally extinct.

More Messages to the Future

Dear Tomorrow,

I promise to use a water bottle.

I promise to make as many changes to my life as possible to make yours as great as mine.

I will recycle stuff I found.

Dear future Michelle,

As consumers, it is our duty to protest and force companies to be greener and avoid environmental damage, whether they are from the food industry or from any other production industry. It’s about time we start thinking greener.

Dear Future

My hope is for all who live in your time to still know the joy of swimming in the ocean, walking through the woods, and hiking in the mountains.

BATMAN SAYS, “LISTEN!”

How can I help you save the world and our country?

I promise to turn old shirts into produce bags.

Dear Future Today,

Here in California we’re starting to recognize our climate changing the natural world around us.

To My Dear Grandchildren,

Be assured that in the upcoming election, I will cast my vote for your future – for elected officials that recognize climate risks and are willing to promote and vote for legislation that will stop environmental damage and begin to heal our planet.

Querida Emanoely,

Gostaria que você se lembrasse das lições simples que mamãe e papai te ensinou, como cuidar das plantas e dos espaços coletivos.

To all the children of the future and those who love them,

While there is still breath in this body I will give of my soul and my time and energy to making the world a better place, for you, and all the beautiful living beings of this world.

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a message to future generations

This post was written by a student. It has not been fact checked or edited.

Festival2-FeaturedImage-EarthDay-Image2

Dear future generations,

I am writing this message with a heavy heart, knowing that the world you will inherit may be vastly different from the one we live in today. Climate change is one of the most significant challenges humanity has ever faced, and its impact on the planet and our way of life cannot be overstated.

As someone who witnessed the effects of climate change firsthand, I implore you to take action now. The rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and increasing frequency of natural disasters are just the beginning. If we do not act quickly and decisively, the consequences will be dire.

It is up to all of us to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect and restore ecosystems, and promote sustainable living practices. We must recognize that every action we take has an impact on the environment, and make choices that prioritize the health of our planet and future generations.

Do not underestimate the power of individual action. Every effort counts, no matter how small it may seem. Whether it's reducing your carbon footprint, supporting conservation efforts, or advocating for policy changes, each of us can make a difference.

Most importantly, do not lose hope. Despite the challenges we face, there is still time to create a better future for ourselves and for those who will come after us. Let us work together towards this goal, so that you may inherit a world that is healthy, vibrant, and resilient.

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Dear Future Generations: Sorry

By Prince Ea

Richard Williams aka ‘Prince Ea’ reflects in his powerful and ecocritical spoken-word-poem on a dystopian future of our world, which was destroyed by environmental pollution, the devastating deforestation of the rainforests and exhausted consumerism. The speaker apologises in front of the ‘future generation’ for not taking responsibility for the planet’s biodiversity – for putting profit over people and nature. Finally, the voice offers a paradigm shift, outlining and demanding to stop climate change and the destruction of nature by saving water, practising ethical consumerism and reducing our carbon footprint to save our world.

The spoken-word-poem is suitable for interdisciplinary teaching with the subject of Biology and Geography or a cross-curricular project on environmental awareness. As the poem is used as an advert, teachers might discuss product placement with their pupils.

Poetry · United States · 2015

Critical edition

Williams, Richard. "Dear Future Generations: Sorry." YouTube , Prince Ea, 20. April 2015. 6 min., Website

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In favour of this entry.

  • Addresses current affairs
  • Charged with meaning
  • Intercultural perspectives
  • Interdisciplinary or cross-curricular teaching
  • Silenced voices
  • Students can identify with the text

Recommended for these classrooms

  • Years 9–10 (Realschule)
  • Years 11–12 (Grundkurs)
  • Years 11–12 (Leistungskurs)

Berufsbildende Schule

Online resources.

  • YouTube: "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" (2016) by Prince Ea
  • Lyrics: "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" (2016) by Prince Ea
  • Homepage: Prince Ea
  • Book listing on buchhandel.de
  • Book listing on openlibrary.org

Suitable for discussing these topics

Anglophone societies.

  • Equality and inequality
  • Globalisation

Coming of Age

  • Becoming an active member of society

Current affairs

  • Fridays for Future
  • Advertising
  • Ethical consumerism

History and politics

  • Demanding change

Science and Environment

  • Climate change
  • Experiencing nature
  • Plants and animals
  • Saving and recycling resources
  • Weather and climate

Dear Future Generations: Sorry Poem Study Guide

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Description

SuperSummary’s Poem Study Guide for "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" by Prince Ea provides text-specific content for close reading, engagement, and the development of thought-provoking assignments. Review and plan more easily with poet biography, literary device analysis, essay topics, and more.

Note: This rich poem-study resource for teacher and student support does not contain  activities, quiz or discussion questions. For ready-to-use classroom materials, please consider one of our poem units , which provide teachers with strategic comprehension and literary device questions, discussion starters, writing prompts, and creative pre-built activities. We also offer a variety of other Unit products (Novel Unit, Play Unit, Short Story Unit).

STUDY GUIDE

Delve into the easy-to-navigate 22-page guide for "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" poem analysis, literary devices, and other sections. Build rich lessons on the poem’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as “Regret” and “Lamentation”.

Featured content also includes:

  • Comprehensive biography of the poet
  • 3 literary devices
  • 7 curated further reading suggestions & multimedia resources
  • Contextual Analysis section with 2 contextual lenses 

✏️ How to use:  

Created to provide a thorough review and to support students’ deep understanding of "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" , our literature guide quickly refreshes teachers on the poet’s life as well as essential themes, symbols and motifs. The contents of the guide provide a strong framework for helping students understand a poem and place it in context through close reading, examination of literary devices, and outside resources that help students further unpack its meaning and value.

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Dear Future Generations Sorry

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SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata)

  • Dear Future Generations: Sorry

Dear Future Generations: Sorry Lyrics

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics ( <i>lyric</i> ) and bold ( <b>lyric</b> ) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

Dear future generation: I’m sorry — Prince Ea

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

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dear future generations essay

Dear Future Generations: Sorry

Guide cover image

20 pages • 40 minutes read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Poem Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Further Reading & Resources

Discussion Questions

Form and Meter

“Dear Future Generations: Sorry” is a free verse poem divided into five stanzas, and performed as a filmed, spoken word piece. The poem uses many rhythmical elements such as rhyme , variations in rhythm , and repetition . End rhyme is used throughout “Dear Future Generations: Sorry” to propel the piece forward and create music, rhythm, and flow. For example, in the start of the poem, the speaker states, “I hope you forgive us / We just didn’t realize how special the earth was” (Lines 7-8). These two lines end in a rhyme “us,” (Line 7) and “was” (Line 8). Similarly, the speaker repeats this in the following two lines when he states, “Like a marriage going wrong / We didn’t know what we had until it was gone” (Lines 9-10). Again, the speaker relies on end rhymes “wrong,” (Line 9) and “gone,” (Line 10) to create music in the poem.

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Dear Future Generations: Sorry

Mari Jørstad provides support for Facing the Anthropocene, a project under the Ethics and Environmental Policy program area. She is originally from Norway and spent a decade in Canada, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in art & art history and political science and an MA in religion before coming to Duke to work toward a PhD studying the Hebrew Bible.

IMAGES

  1. Dear Future Generations: Sorry by Prince Ea Analysis

    dear future generations essay

  2. Dear Future Generations: Sorry! gap text

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  3. Dear Future Generations: Sorry! gap text

    dear future generations essay

  4. Importance of Education for Future Generation Essay Example

    dear future generations essay

  5. Dear future gen

    dear future generations essay

  6. Dear Future Generations Handout

    dear future generations essay

COMMENTS

  1. Write a Letter to Future Generations About The World you Hope They

    Dear Future Generations, As I write this letter today in the year 2024, I hope the world you have inherited is one of peace, equality, and environment-friendly. ... Essay on Internet: Samples in 100, 200, and 300 Words Manasvi Kotwal; Mar 8, 2024; CBSE Exam 2024 Result School Wise Percentages: Check All Updates

  2. Dear Future Generations: Sorry

    Overview. "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" is written and performed by Prince Ea. It is a spoken word piece framed as an address to those who will live on Earth in the future and thus inherit the current planetary destruction at the hand of humanity and climate change. Performed and published in 2015, the poem is a timely piece, published ...

  3. Dear future generations,

    I hope the future generation who reads this letter is a product of the people who were brave enough to make a difference. I hope you're living in a world that has learned to cohabitate with nature. I hope you are both thriving in a better world. That better world is what I am fighting for. -Baylee.

  4. Activist Prince Ea Has A Message To Future Generations: Sorry

    Activist Prince Ea Has A Message To Future Generations: Sorry. Prince Ea—the stage name of American rapper, spoken word artist, and civil rights activist Richard Williams from St. Louis— has done it again. Just in time for Earth Day, he launched one of the most powerful videos I have ever seen about mitigating climate change -- in the first ...

  5. Dear Future Generations: Sorry Symbols & Motifs

    Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" by Prince Ea. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

  6. What do we owe future generations? And what can we do to make their

    Longtermism is one of those good ideas. It helps us better place our present in humanity's bigger story. It's humbling and inspiring to see the role we can play in protecting the future. We ...

  7. Analysis Of Dear Future Generations : Sorry

    Analysis Of Dear Future Generations : Sorry. In the poem "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" by Prince Ea, he addresses that he is sorry for leaving the future generations with "our mess of a planet (3).". Using anaphoras, he is stating that he is sorry that they were " [...] too caught up in our own doings to do something (4)", and ...

  8. Dear future generations,

    Dear future generations, I have spent the last four years of my life educating myself and others on the reality and consequences of anthropogenic climate change. I have taken approximately one class per quarter at my university that was focused on climate change to some extent. I have written countless essays, research papers, elevator pitches ...

  9. Dear Future Generations: Sorry Themes

    Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" by Prince Ea. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

  10. Dear Future Generations,

    This generation is where we start to make a difference. We must take care of the earth today because it is our only home. This generation must realize we are not apart from nature but rather a part of nature. To betray nature is to betray us; to save nature is to save us. I plan to start now. Otherwise, there is no way to be certain there will ...

  11. a message to future generations

    Dear future generations,I am writing this message with a heavy heart, knowing that the world you will inherit may be vastly different from the one we live in today. Climate change is one of the most significant challenges humanity has ever faced, and its impact on the planet and our way of life cannot be overstated.As someone who witnessed the effects of climate change firsthand, I implore you ...

  12. Dear Future Generations: Sorry (2024)

    An Apology Letter to Future Generations. Sorry.Climate Change💬TEXT ME: 314-207-4482💬🔴URGENT: YouTube won't show you my NEW videos UNLESS you🔔 TURN ON MY ...

  13. Dear Future Generations: Sorry

    Dear Future Generations: Sorry. Richard Williams aka 'Prince Ea' reflects in his powerful and ecocritical spoken-word-poem on a dystopian future of our world, which was destroyed by environmental pollution, the devastating deforestation of the rainforests and exhausted consumerism. The speaker apologises in front of the 'future generation ...

  14. Dear Future Generations: Sorry Poem Study Guide

    SuperSummary's Poem Study Guide for "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" by Prince Ea provides text-specific content for close reading, engagement, and the development of thought-provoking assignments. Review and plan more easily with poet biography, literary device analysis, essay topics, and more. Note: This rich poem-study resource for teacher and student support does not contain activities ...

  15. Dear Future Generations Sorry : Prince Ea

    I am using your video for my YouTube Chanel. If you have any issue or you don't want to allow me. Tell me please. My email. zabanaljrrogeliocastillo@. An Apology Letter to Future Generations. Sorry. Don't forget to like, comment, and SUBSCRIBE: https://goo.gl/3bBv52 For more inspirational videos on climate...

  16. Dear Future Generation Rhetorical Analysis

    Prince Ea's video titled "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" portrays the possible future faced by future generations if people don't take responsibility for... Essays Topics

  17. Prince Ea

    It can be denied, not avoided. So I'm sorry future generation. I'm sorry that our footprints became a sinkhole and not a garden. I'm sorry that we paid so much attention to ISIS. And very little ...

  18. Dear Future Generations: Sorry Literary Devices

    Form and Meter. "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" is a free verse poem divided into five stanzas, and performed as a filmed, spoken word piece. The poem uses many rhythmical elements such as rhyme, variations in rhythm, and repetition. End rhyme is used throughout "Dear Future Generations: Sorry" to propel the piece forward and create ...

  19. Prince Ea

    Dear Future Generations, I think I speak for the rest of us when I say, sorry, sorry we left you our mess of a planet. Sorry that we were too caught up in our own doings to do something. Sorry we listened to people who made excuses, to do nothing. I hope you forgive us,

  20. Dear Future Generations: Sorry

    By Mari Jorstad on April 25, 2019. Dear Future Generations: Sorry. Sometimes scientific names, their dependence on Greek and Latin in particular, can feel confusing and opaque, jargon intended only for the specialist. At other times, they make things painfully clear. Take for example the terms heterotrophs and autotrophs. Humans are heterotrophs.

  21. Shafik's Columbia: 13 months and 13 days of a campus spiraling into crisis

    Columbia published a statement on the reversal, affirming that diversity is "central" to the institution's identity. July 3, 2023 Shafik stepped into the Office of the President after her tenure officially began on July 1, greeting the community with a video message explaining that her "primary focus in the coming months will be getting ...