essay - GMAT Analysis of Issue2

Questions:
"It is unrealistic to expect individual nations to make, independently, the sacrifices necessary to conserve energy. International leadership and worldwide cooperation are essential if we expect to protect the world's energy resources for future generations."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion stated above. Support your views with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Answer:
I fully agree on the statement that international leadership and worldwide cooperation are essential for the world's energy resources, but I believe that individual nations can contribute to conserve natural energy without other countries' support.

It's dangerous to state that only if all countries must keep in step altogether, a nation cannot take any action proceeding with natural resource conservation. As a typical example, although this is in terms of greenhouse gas emission, United States of America has been rejecting to ratify the Kyoto Protocol signed in 1997 on the grounds of the inequality in its participants. United States insists that it's unfair that China and India have no obligation of reducing greenhouse gas emission. However, how sad the result from this attitude will be!

I believe that a nation and its people willingly step forward to save the earth even if other countries hesitate to do that. It's getting clearer as time goes that natural resources have been diminishing and eventually will vanish! Especially fossil fuel is in the line of exhaustion, resulting in record high gas oil prices recently observed. We face literally the fierce urgency of now.

International leadership and worldwide cooperation are vitally important, but they come to realize only if the respective nations commit themselves and take concrete actions. Therefore, I'd like to emphasize that an individual action comes first and world cooperation comes second. We need to bear in mind that every single step can change the world.