IB ESS HL 7.1.19 Hl Resource Insecurity Impacts Questions
Practise IB ESS HL 7.1.19 by applying resource insecurity impacts concepts to environmental systems questions.
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Course
- ESS HL
- Level
- HL
Exam points
- explain how unequal distribution, scarcity, overconsumption, population growth, climate change and resource value can generate insecurity
- link natural-resource competition to food, water, land, fossil fuels, minerals, migration, trade, power and social unrest
- evaluate the extent to which resource insecurity causes conflict by balancing cooperation, governance, technology, interdependence and shared interests
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IB ESS HL 7.1.19 Hl Resource Insecurity Impacts Questions question 1
[Maximum number: 7]
Explain how the inequitable distribution of natural resources can lead to conflict.
natural resources like water/food/productive land/fossil fuel/ore deposits are distributed unequally around the globe/some countries have a lot, some others have few;
eg sub-Saharan African countries face water shortages/Middle East countries have a huge surplus of oil;
which may lead one country to invade another for its resources eg ore deposits in Congo/Afghanistan;
inequitabilities may also arise from changes within societies due to overconsumption/population growth/lack of technology (agricultural/extraction/mining)/unsustainable development;
...or from changes in their surroundings eg climatic change/international politics/economics/war/embargoes;
eg food price crisis in 2008 causing protests/riots/political/economic/social unrest (in both LEDCs \& MEDCs);
eg water scarcity due to climate change in Syria is argued to be a major cause of civil war in 2011;
Inequitability often leads to conflict when a resource is shared across national borders (usually water storages or oil deposits);
eg sharing the Nile's water resources between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt;
inequitability in energy/fuel reserves is particularly significant to economics/national security;
eg leading to, and promulgating many conflicts in the Middle East;
conflicts can also occur between constituencies within a country eg social classes/ethnic groups/resentments over government regulations/bans/taxation/private ownerships v public;
eg when cost of clean water is prohibitive for lower social classes;
Marking guidance:
Award 1 mark for any argument/valid eg connecting unequal resource distribution to conflict;
Allow 4 max for outlining inequality in resource distribution without clear reference on how it is leading to conflict.
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