A group of campaigners, including charities Navca, Traidcraft and the Gaia Foundation, have called on the new government to commit to an annual, televised public debate on how it plans to tackle long-term threats to the environment and society.

The group, which is campaigning for sustainable development, states its case in a letter, entitled Towards a new politics of the future, to Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

The letter argues that the prevalence of short-termism in contemporary politics on issues such as climate change, social injustice and youth unemployment, could endanger meaningful progress in these areas.

To tackle this, the group calls for an annual, televised, ‘State of the Future’ speech and public debate, starting this year, which would outline how the government planned to take account of long-term threats to the environment and society.

The letter also calls on the government to investigate whether there are other innovations in the parliamentary and policy process that could better equip and encourage MPs to consider the long-term interests of future generations in policy decisions.

The letter carries the signatures of the heads of ten civil society organisations.