Welcome to The Challenge, the first day of the iNet student online conference on global citizenship. Please make the most of this opportunity to talk about today's two fantastic presentations with other young people around the world.

Debra Brydon,
Online Conference Manager

Life in 2026

Diva
Pathways World School
India

The year 2026 seems like a long time away, right? Wrong. In terms of the world and the issues that we now face, 19 years seems like an insufficient time to solve all the world's problems and deal with all the various issues.

Growing up as a student in the 21st century, we've been taught and made aware of the world's various issues. These issues concern the environment, society, the economy, politics, culture and technology. We've been taught, right since we were in kindergarten, to not only think about ourselves and our backyard, but to also think about our neighbours on the other side of the globe and to be sensitive towards their needs.

Having been brought up as global citizens, it is our duty and responsibility to think of the world as a whole, and as our own. The world faces major challenges regarding its resources. Air, water and land are the Earth's natural resources, which are facing major problems. Pollution and global warming today are the planet's greatest foes.

Today, our world runs mainly on nuclear and fossil fuels. These fuels are being used everywhere from large factories to our homes. The main human source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is from the burning of fossil fuels, mainly for transport and in industries. We must stop using these fossil fuels. Burning any more than a quarter of these fossil fuels will definitely release a huge amount of carbon dioxide, which will dramatically change the climate.

These carbon dioxide emissions also play a major role in the thinning of the atmosphere's ozone layer and this also contributes towards climate change. The thinning ozone layer cannot block out all of the harmful UV (ultra violet) rays of the sun. These UV rays are the main cause of the fatal disease, skin cancer. The thinning ozone layer also contributes to global warming and means that human caused climatic change is now a reality.

The vast water bodies around the globe also have a lot of problems. The biggest problem with these water bodies is the damage caused by all the litter from humans and industries. Water pollution isn't the only thing we have to worry about. The Earth is also facing a major water shortage. Many say that World War Three will most probably be caused by a water crisis. Countries, in the future, will do anything to lay their hands on clean water.

Throughout the world, forests are facing a crisis. The world's forests are full of diversity. Together, the forests maintain environmental systems that are essential for life to exist on Earth. These forests are a major influence on the weather by controlling the amount of rainfall and evaporation of water from the soil. They also store large amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise contribute to climate change. These forests are home to two-thirds of the world's land based species. Forests are facing huge problems from agricultural expansion, the development of infrastructure and mining, among many others. Yet, the largest threat towards these forests is commercial logging. All these problems add up to one thing: deforestation.

We must stop all of this. There are numerous solutions to the various resource problems, which have started springing up in the past few decades. We have to go from a world powered by nuclear and fossil fuels, to one running on renewable energy. We will hopefully achieve this by 2026. Fortunately, there are proven energy solutions we can put in use today to provide development and energy for all. We all have to take part in an energy revolution.

Thankfully, humans are much more aware of these problems and I hope by the year 2026 we will have solved most of these problems.

Being energy efficient is on the top of the list. There are various ways by which we can get the same amount of work done with less energy. By 2026, we will see the world using efficient cars using non-fossil fuels. We will only be using energy saving lights and the regular bulbs will no longer be made.

Wind, solar, bioenergy, hydroelectric, geothermal and other sources can combine to create an energy revolution. Solar energy is being tapped all over the world, especially in the U.S.A and Europe in a big way. It is an expensive technology now, but efforts are being made to make it available at a low cost for the rest of the world. So, in another decade, we hope to be able to use solar energy in a much bigger way.

Wind power has seen two decades of progress. Nowadays, wind farms provide bulk power equal to regular power stations. Since the demand for wind power has gone up, it has become a lot cheaper over the past 15 years. With technological advancements, by 2026 this form of energy will provide 12 per cent of the world's energy. Along the way, two million jobs will be created and 11,000 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will have been prevented.

Geothermal energy means using energy from the core of the Earth. In places where hot water reservoirs are near the surface of the Earth, that hot water can be directed to where the heat is needed. Geothermal energy is used for hot water, to heat homes, to warm greenhouses and even to melt snow on roads. In Iceland, hydrogen stations have started supplying a few buses with renewable hydrogen fuel, made from water using geothermal energy, which is abundant there. I am hopeful that by the year 2026, more and more countries of the world will be using geothermal energy.

I wish the social and political problems in the world were as easy to solve as our energy and resource issues. Although I am an optimist, I do not think we will inherit a world free of poverty, racism, hunger and war. We may be able to generate a million times more food, but basic human nature may still mean that people will continue to die of starvation in 2026. It is not enough to just have physical resources; we must change our human nature as well. We have to ensure that the world in 2026 is a world of love, cooperation and friendship. It will be difficult, but we can do it. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi taught us earlier how to achieve peace and freedom through non-violence. I will spread the teachings of Gandhi amongst my friends as my contribution to unite our world. We are the future, and I will work together in my community to make it a better world.

Global resources video

Chun Chuan, Shao Wei & Eugene
Cedar Primary
Singapore

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