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NSWGeography

Focus Area: Global sustainability (2022 syllabus)

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do global-scale environmental challenges shape sustainability across places, and how do different stakeholders respond?

Investigate climate change as a global sustainability challenge: causes, spatial patterns of impact, stakeholder responses, and the role of international agreements (Paris Agreement, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change)
A focused HSC Geography (2022 syllabus) answer on climate change as a global sustainability challenge. Covers causes, spatial patterns of impact, the Paris Agreement, and how stakeholders at different scales respond. Includes Pacific case study.
9 min answer →

How do patterns of economic inequality shape global sustainability, and what mechanisms exist to narrow the development gap?

Investigate global economic inequality and development: measures of development (HDI, GDP per capita), the development gap between the Global North and Global South, and the role of trade, aid, debt and the Sustainable Development Goals
A focused HSC Geography (2022 syllabus) answer on global economic inequality and development. Covers HDI vs GDP per capita, the Global North-South gap, trade, aid and debt, the SDGs, and a Pacific Island case study of intersecting climate and economic challenges.
9 min answer →

How do patterns of population change vary across the world, and what are the sustainability implications of ageing and rapid-growth populations?

Investigate global population change: the demographic transition model, population pyramids, ageing populations in developed countries, rapid growth in lower-income countries, urbanisation, and policy responses
A focused HSC Geography (2022 syllabus) answer on global population change. Covers the demographic transition model, population pyramids, ageing in Japan and Australia, rapid growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, urbanisation, and named policy responses including China's former one-child policy and immigration.
9 min answer →

How does globalisation shape flows of goods, capital, labour and information, and what are the sustainability implications of integrated and fragile supply chains?

Investigate globalisation as a process of flows: trade, capital, labour and information; the role of trade agreements (WTO, RCEP, CPTPP); supply chain fragility; winners and losers; deglobalisation pressures and impacts on Australia
A focused HSC Geography (2022 syllabus) answer on globalisation and global trade. Covers flows of goods, capital, labour and information, named trade agreements (WTO, RCEP, CPTPP), supply chain fragility (COVID-19, Suez 2021), deglobalisation pressures, and impacts on Australia.
9 min answer →

How do international agreements and multi-scale stakeholders respond to global sustainability challenges, and what are the strengths and limits of this framework?

Investigate international agreements and stakeholders responding to global sustainability challenges: the UN framework, UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, the SDGs, COP conferences, and the roles of NGOs, multinational corporations and individuals
A focused HSC Geography (2022 syllabus) answer on international agreements and stakeholders. Covers the UN framework, UNFCCC and Paris Agreement, COP conferences (Rio 1992, COP 21 Paris 2015, COP 26 Glasgow 2021), SDGs, NGOs, multinational corporations and individuals, and critiques of the framework.
9 min answer →

How do current patterns of resource use threaten global sustainability, and how does a circular economy reframe the challenge?

Investigate global resource use and the circular economy: finite resources, planetary boundaries, the linear-to-circular transition, and the interconnection of food, water and energy security
A focused HSC Geography (2022 syllabus) answer on global resource use and the circular economy. Covers the linear vs circular model, planetary boundaries, food-water-energy interconnection, and named transitions including the EU Circular Economy Action Plan and Australia's waste export ban.
9 min answer →