Student Essay - Roh Ye Jin, Year 11, Taylor’s International School - The exploration and development of safe alternatives to fossil fuels should be the most important global priority today.

Roh Ye Jin, Year 11, Taylor’s International School

The exploration and development of safe alternatives to fossil fuels should be the most important global priority today. To what extent, do you agree?

Would you like to provide your next generation with a better environment to live in? Nowadays, one of the most important global issues is that fossil fuels are running out. Finding new energy sources such as water, wind and solar energy is an important issue for today’s world but there are other problems, such as poverty and wars, that are equally important if not more so. Therefore, I do not completely agree that the exploration and development of safe alternatives to fossil fuels should be the most important global priority today.

It is important for the world to develop renewable energy from wind, water and the sun. It is because we can save the earth by reducing global warming and pollution as there will be less concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which traps the heat. If we do not develop an alternative energy source, we will have lots of problems. The earth will not survive as it will become warmer and that might lead to the end of the world. Moreover, we will not be able to provide a good life to the next generation because there will be no electricity or transportation. All modern devices such as television, phones and computers will be useless and life will be inconvenient. There will also be no modes of transportation such as aeroplanes, cars and trains because there is not enough fuel left so we will have to go back to a primitive lifestyle in which people walked from place to place, delivered messages using pigeons and rode horses. Therefore, developing an alternative energy is an important global issue today. 

However, there are other problems that are equally pressing. For example, people in Africa are suffering from poverty and the world must help them out. The death rate is increasing as people are dying of hunger, thirst and poor medical treatment. People, including young children, are suffering from various diseases due to malnutrition and the lack of clean water. The children are poorly educated and people do not have enough money to feed themselves. Therefore, children over the age of six start to work and earn money instead of attending school. They are humans just like us and we must help them because they have the right to live in better conditions and a person’s life is more important than electricity or transportation. Thus, in my opinion, improving living conditions for the poor is the most urgent global issue today.

Furthermore, there are wars going on in today’s world and there are strained relationships between countries that could lead to conflict. Due to war, many people are dying and some are living in fear. The countries in bad relationships must always be prepared and alert for future attacks. It is because they do not know when their enemy might attack them and they could die at any moment if they do not stay alert. A war can be a disaster because if a war takes place, hundreds of people can die in a second and families will be separated. In addition, a person might lose part of the body or gain a disease which cannot be cured and separated families might not be able to meet one another for a long time, if at all. Hence, keeping peace is more important than finding an alternative energy source as it deals with millions of lives.

In conclusion, developing an alternative energy may be an important global issue but it is not the most important one as there are other things such as poverty and war, which are also important, if not more so. However, these matters could be solved if we work together. People from all four corners of the earth should help one another to make the Earth a better place to live in.