A Major Challenge for the Leaders of the 21st Century

(Timed  ~1 hr)      
          The term "greatest" can be applied in many ways, but for me, it is a thing, event, idea, in this case, a challenge, that outstrips all other challenges in terms of the degree of importance to the widest range of participants and the length of time that its effects last for.
          As we have recently capped off the first decade of the 21st century, we have seen nations globalize and form tighter and stronger bonds with other countries in economic terms, political terms, cultural terms, and in a host of other ways more than ever before. Unfortunately, for many this has meant decline. As the United States' housing bubble burst and the ensuing "Great Recession" brought economies around the world to a halt, many countries, peoples and leaders have started questioning not only the structure of the United States's economy, which has provided a bedrock for economic growth worldwide, but also the structure and ideals behind capitalism itself, the economic system behind most of the Western World's development. While the economic ideologies of capitalism, socialism, state-capitalism, and others will, in my opinion, always compete for credibility, what is of greater importance is the more fundamental question of how international political economics can create a better world for its inhabitants.
          In the 21st century, I believe that (essentially) free energy will give the leaders of the 21st century their greatest challenge and likewise their greatest reward. While we have seen that freedom of communication is a great thing in itself, allowing people and cultures to connect and share their thoughts and beliefs and allowing people to rise up and demand accountability from their governments among other things, the next step seems to be the freedom of energy, which would allow people to more freely produce what they need or want, transport what they need and want, and many other things besides these two fundamental activities of a free and personally-created life.
          For the purpose of being brief, I would name solar energy as the champion of "free energy" because in its natural state solar energy is relatively equal in accessibility and relatively limitless in its supply. While people might say that we have already surmounted the challenge of harnessing solar energy, my aim for global leaders is to make solar energy more accessible in at least two important ways: increasing the economic efficiency of harvesting solar energy and making it more readily exchangeable on international markets. Facing this challenge would not only solve one of the most pressing issues of future generations, the limited supply of fossil fuels, but also serve as a means to promote greener production standards, which would help alleviate our current issues with human-produced green house gases and climate change.
          While this project may seem idealistic with terms like "free energy", the international leaders must ensure that the international community competes for solutions to this goal without inciting trade wars, creating an unfair competitive environment through high subsidies or tariffs, or other ways that countries might disrupt what should essentially be a humanitarian effort. What is needed is a common goal  and common reward that all countries can take part in, which would be the exponential increase in the production capabilities and living standards of all people if energy became free.