Good morning, everyone.

Today, we’re debating the motion about “Funding for

space exploration to the Moon or Mars should be cancelled until world hunger and
poverty has been eliminated "and I’ll be arguing for this motion because poverty and
hunger are probably the most urgent issues in the Earth. According to the United
Nations, over 20 thousand children die daily due to hunger over the world, and it has
been recognized that ending poverty to achieve peace and prosperity is the priority
for the whole human. Comparatively, space exploration seems to be insignificant.
Therefore, I honestly believe that it will be more conducive to invest funds to solve
the problem of poverty and hunger instead of space exploration.

By way of introduction, I’d like to state that I’m for this proposal clearly. I think the
investment in space exploration should be canceled. In developing countries, like
several parts of Africa, people still suffer from famine, drought, and war. If a
government fails to provide its people with primary living conditions, why should it
spend a large amount of money on space exploration?  Space exploration is a long-
term investment and it will take time. For developing countries, we should focus
more on ‘’now’’, not the ‘’future’’, so, whether, in the long term or short term,
working on improving people's lives should be the priority. Human needs always
come first. So, if poverty and hunger still exist, then it is better to stop the funding for
space exploration and focus more on these problems. And, what about you?

I understand that space exploration could benefit human life, but it also brings
disadvantages. Nobody will deny that space exploration causes space pollution.
Many space junks would be produced during the process of space exploration. It is
revealed by report that more than 20 thousand pieces of orbital debris are tracked in
2021. These space junks might threaten the safety of astronauts while some space
debris will pose threats even to the ground when it accidentally enters the
atmosphere. Therefore, why don’t we stop funding on space exploration and instead,
spend more resources on addressing the problem of poverty and hunger which bring
no adverse effects?

Space exploration requires a horrible number of capitals. In 2022, global government

expenditure for space programs hit a record of approximately 100 billion U.S. dollars.
Since many of the space exploration fail. Probes and satellites crash, exploration
robots are lost, rockets blow up in the air, etc. It is frustrating to see how so much
money and time are wasted in unsuccessful missions.
Exploring space can somehow help improve people’s quality of life. However, I still
cannot agree that we should keep exploring the space. According to the United
Nations, there are 17 goals for sustainable development, whereas no poverty and
zero hunger come to the first and the second goal. I think space exploration should
be based on the sustainable development. So, it is more important to solve the
poverty and hunger problems, then the space exploration.

Isn't it easier to end hunger by directly investing funds in agriculture? I agree to a

certain extend that space exploration could accelerate the process of space
agriculture and increase food produce. However, the technology nowadays only
allows space farming to be a sort of food supply for astronauts under long duration
of mission. It would take many years to really accomplish the aim which is way too
far for the poor to wait for. Indeed, I insist that poverty and hunger should be placed
in our priority.