← General Paper syllabus

SingaporeGeneral Paper

Environment and Sustainability

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Why is climate change so hard to solve, and where should responsibility for acting lie?

Evaluate why climate change resists collective action and how responsibility should be shared between nations, firms and individuals
A focused answer to the General Paper theme of climate change. Why it is a collective-action problem, the equity debate between developed and developing nations, and how responsibility is shared, with Singapore and global examples.
10 min answer →

How should societies balance conserving nature against the demands of land, housing and development?

Evaluate how societies should balance nature conservation against development pressures, weighing intrinsic and instrumental value against human needs
A focused answer to the General Paper theme of conservation. Balanced arguments on protecting nature against development, intrinsic versus instrumental value, and trade-offs in land-scarce contexts, with Singapore examples.
9 min answer →

Must economic growth come at the expense of the environment, or can the two be reconciled?

Evaluate the tension between economic growth and environmental protection, weighing development against sustainability and the prospect of decoupling
A focused answer to the General Paper theme of growth and the environment. Balanced arguments on whether development and sustainability conflict, the decoupling debate, and the developing-nation perspective, with examples.
9 min answer →

Does environmental change depend on individual choices, or on systems, governments and corporations?

Evaluate the relative weight of individual action and systemic change in solving environmental problems, and how the two relate
A focused answer to the General Paper theme of environmental responsibility. Balanced arguments on individual action versus systemic change, the limits of personal choice, and how the two reinforce each other, with examples.
9 min answer →