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Connor Ruta

Mr. Taylor

Honors English I

22 March 2019

Goal 7 Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable, and Modern Energy

This essay will be talking about goal 7 which is “Ensuring Access to Affordable,

Reliable, Sustainable, and Modern Energy” (“Goal 7”). This goal is to “create more sustainable

and inclusive communities” (“Goal 7”), and “increase the sustainability and the share of

renewable energy in the global mix” (“Goal 7”). This means that we need to help our

environment and communities get clean energy, and help places access clean cooking and clean

and affordable energy. Another meaning of the goal is and to “ensure universal access to

affordable, reliable, and modern energy services” (“Goal 7”). To do this we have to help places

without energy get access to energy and help places with energy that is not clean to get access to

clean energy. Ways we can help our environment and communities are taking away pollution

and reduce global warming. In order to achieve that we can use electric powered cars because

they don’t give off poisonous gases and with that then we have less pollution and greenhouse

gases which cause global warming. We could also use renewable resources because they have

less pollution and they don’t destroy our ozone layer. This goal needs to be achieved to help out

our world. In our world, we have multiple problems that affect our communities.

This goal is an issue because of some places like “Lake Karachay, Russia which was used

for years as a nuclear dumping site by the Soviet Union and even only one hour of exposure can

kill you” (Castillo). One other place is Sumgayit, Azerbaijan which is a severely toxic
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environment and many residents living there have multiple health problems and there have been

multiple deaths (Castillo). So really this goal is an issue because people and places are suffering

because of the toxic environments that we live in. some facts and figures about our environment

are that “13% of the global population lacks modern electricity” (“Goal 7”). This means that

13% of the world don’t have any form of electricity in their houses, it also means that people

won’t be able to use important technology because they don’t have electricity. For example,

some places in Africa don’t have electricity so people have to walk about 5 miles multiple times

a day just to get water because of the lack of electricity for running water. Some other facts and

figures are that “3 billion who lack access to clean cooking” (“Goal 7”). This fact means that

there are 3 million people who don’t have clean food so the people eating the food can get a

disease or sickness. What is trying to be said is that many people are getting really sick and

starving because they don't have clean cooking or any cooking at all.

The UN chose this as one of their 17 goals from the “damage being done to the

environment” (“Goal 7”). One example is the melting of icecaps caused by global warming, and

the pollution hurting/affecting people and animals. Another reason why the UN chose this as one

of their goals is that people suffering. Around 1 million people in our world live without

electricity and that just about 50% of those people are living in Africa, people are also getting

hurt and sometimes even killed from the dangerous levels of air pollution. I also can't forget

about the issues globally and locally, a global issue is global warming. Global warming is

causing the destruction of animal environments. Global warming can also cause extreme weather

issues like hurricanes and tornadoes. The local issue is cutting down trees, cutting down trees

releases poisonous gases into the environment that destroy our ozone layer and our ozone layer
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protects us from the sun’s dangerous ultraviolet radiation, cutting down trees also destroys

animals habitat. This goal is very important to make the world a better place for living.

Some actions being taken to help achieve the goal are Denmark's actions and they are

finding ways for efficient energy consumptions and using renewable energy sources

(“Sustainable”). Some other actions being taken are Brazil’s actions which involve the use of

renewable sources and a conservation program to conserve energy. There is also a program

currently working on this goal and the program is called the Sustainable Energy For All program

(“Global”). This program travels around the world to help. For example, they have traveled to

East Africa to help close energy gaps, they have also traveled to Bangladesh to help accelerate

electricity. This group explains helpful ideas and explains how to get involved and how to help

achieve our goal. There are many more organizations trying to help achieve this super important

goal.

There are still many things that need to be done, like using renewable resources as our

main resource which means using less non-renewable resources like oil and using more

renewable resources like solar energy. Something else that still needs to be done is less pollution,

in order to achieve that we will have to use solar-powered cars so poisonous emissions don't

affect our ozone layer and we could stop digging for oil. Some things that the public involving

high schoolers can do are public and private investments for example investments in

communities and the government. Another thing is using renewable energy sources for

construction and when driving your car. If you can help achieve our goal, then help.
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Works cited

Castillo, Juan. “The 25 Most Polluted Places On Earth” ​List 25,​

https://list25.com/the-25-most-polluted-places-on-earth/​ . accessed 22 March 2019.

“Global interventions”. ​Sustainable Energy For All​, 22 March 2019,

https://www.seforall.org​ .

“Goal 7 Ensure Access to Affordable, Sustainable, and Modern Energy”. ​Sustainable

Development Goals​, 22 March 2019,

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy/​ .

“Sustainable Production, Distribution and use of Energy: Trends in National Implementation.

United Nations​, 22 March 2019,

http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=E/CN.17/2001/12&Lang=E​ .