Key Idea: Few past-paper parts test this lens yet: 26 marks in 4 parts, most on economic models, growth and biodiversity, and chains that start with money. Expect a Paper 1 'Through the lens of economics, suggest how...' [6] and a Paper 2 Section B (c) [9].
1. Economic models (most marks)
- Polluter pays: Ireland's bag levy (2002) cut use from about 328 bags per person a year to 21.
- Circular economy: keep materials in use. Only 7.2% of materials were cycled back (2023 report).
- Doughnut: meet everyone's needs without passing Earth's limits (Raworth, 2017; Amsterdam, 2020).
2. Growth and the environment
- Growth needs land and resources: palm oil in Indonesia clears orangutan habitat.
- Richer places can clean up: Beijing's PM2.5 fell 64% from 2013 to 2023.
- This Kuznets curve fits local air pollution better than CO₂, waste or biodiversity.
3. Money drives the chain
- Start every lens answer with money: profit, price, cost or demand.
- Low profit and costly labour empty hill farms; grazing stops, forest returns, meadow species go.
- Market failure: pollution costs the firm nothing, so too much is made and the footprint grows.
How it is examined:
| Question | How to score |
|---|---|
| [6] Paper 1: Through the lens of economics, suggest how X could lead to a loss of biodiversity | A chain from money (profit, price, labour cost) to people, land, then species. Without the money link, at most [4]. |
| [2] Outline how market failure adds to an ecological deficit | Waste costs the firm nothing; it adds to the footprint; beyond biocapacity it makes the deficit. |
| [9] Paper 2 Section B (c), with a lens: can economic models make communities more sustainable? | Polluter pays, circular, doughnut, Ostrom, each with an example; limits such as greenwashing; a judgement. |
| [9] Paper 2 Section B (c), with a lens: how much does economic development drive biodiversity loss? | Development pressure (palm oil, cities) against conservation and good governance; a judgement. |
| [4] Explain the tragedy of the commons with an example | A shared, open resource; each user gains, all share the loss: the Grand Banks cod, closed in 1992. |
Key terms, one line each:
| Term | In one line |
|---|---|
| Market failure | when a market uses too much of a resource or makes too much pollution |
| External cost | harm a firm causes that it does not pay for, such as pollution |
| Polluter-pays principle | the one who causes pollution pays for the harm, through taxes, charges or fines |
| Greenwashing | claiming to be greener than you are, to win customers |
| Tragedy of the commons | a shared resource is overused because each user gains while all share the loss |
| Decoupling | the economy grows while resource use or emissions fall |
| Circular economy | an economy that keeps materials in use and designs out waste |
Last-minute check: answer, then tap to see.
Why does the market overuse a rainforest? Its carbon store and habitat have no price, so the loss is not paid for: a market failure.
What did Ireland's bag levy show? A small charge cut bag use from about 328 to 21 per person a year.
Name two models that put ecological economics into practice. The circular economy and the doughnut.
Who showed a community can manage a commons well? Elinor Ostrom (Nobel 2009): since 1517 Torbel, Switzerland, has limited cows on its pasture.
In Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, large areas of rainforest have been cleared for oil palm plantations. Palm oil is used in foods, soaps and biofuels around the world. Through the lens of economics, suggest how rising world demand for palm oil could lead to a loss of biodiversity in Kalimantan.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Exam tips
- Through the lens of economics: start each chain with money, then people, land and species.
- Name a real model with its example: Ireland's levy, Amsterdam's doughnut, Ostrom's Torbel.
- Weigh each model with a limit, such as greenwashing or the low 7.2% circularity rate.
- In a [9], end with a judgement: which model works best, and where.