Note that the article makes a crucial assumption: That all those unfounded future liabilities (most of which are pensions etc. I assume) of governments are fixed and cannot be changed. This isn't true, though: By changing the law, those unfounded liabilities can be erased at the stroke of a pen.
What does this mean? That these staggeringly high numbers (if true) do not necessarily mean doom but "merely" that at some point people will find out that the pensions they have been promised won't be there when they reach retirement. (I.e. what the people in Greece are currently painfully experiencing will eventually hit others, too - one pension cut after the other until little is left.)
This doesn't necessarily affect "future" generations, though: Those that will pay for it is the generation that lives through the cut, i.e. which has paid into the system before the cut but was due to receive money only after the cut. This can very well be a generation that is alive today.
Edit: Just to clarify - the article conflates these financial liabilities with environmental damage. Just to avoid confusion: obviously, environmental degradation cannot be erased with the stroke of a pen, the above is only talking about the financial side of things.
What does this mean? That these staggeringly high numbers (if true) do not necessarily mean doom but "merely" that at some point people will find out that the pensions they have been promised won't be there when they reach retirement. (I.e. what the people in Greece are currently painfully experiencing will eventually hit others, too - one pension cut after the other until little is left.)
This doesn't necessarily affect "future" generations, though: Those that will pay for it is the generation that lives through the cut, i.e. which has paid into the system before the cut but was due to receive money only after the cut. This can very well be a generation that is alive today.
Edit: Just to clarify - the article conflates these financial liabilities with environmental damage. Just to avoid confusion: obviously, environmental degradation cannot be erased with the stroke of a pen, the above is only talking about the financial side of things.