Key Idea: Topic 6.2 asks what environmental price the world pays for being globally connected — and whether that price is being brought under control. It pulls together two micros: 6.2.1 — the risks: transboundary pollution (pollution that crosses borders), the carbon footprint of global trade and transport (shipping, air freight, food miles), and the uneven dumping of environmental costs (e-waste, polluting industry) onto lower-income places. 6.2.2 — managing them: clean technology and efficiency, the circular economy, international agreements and corporate ESG/net-zero — and the hard question of whether impacts are actually lessening or just being offset by ever-rising consumption (the rebound effect). This is HL core, examined on Paper 3 — a synoptic two-part essay: a [12] structured part (Analyse/Examine) + a [16] markband part (Evaluate / To what extent).
🌍 6.2.1 — The environmental risks of a connected world
Global flows move pollution and emissions as well as goods. The skill is to link a flow (trade, transport, waste) to a specific environmental risk, and to note who bears the cost — rarely the place that consumes the goods.
♻️ 6.2.2 — Managing the impacts (and are they lessening?)
Management works through technology, the circular economy, agreements and corporate responsibility — but the central debate is whether these are outrunning the growth in consumption. Efficiency gains are often cancelled out by rising absolute demand (the rebound effect) and by offshoring dirty production rather than cleaning it up.
Top-band Paper 3 answers connect units: the TNCs and trade flows of Unit 4 create these risks, the development gap of Unit 5 decides who absorbs the pollution, and the governance and resilience of Topic 6.3 is how the world responds. Reach across the units.
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Exam Tips
- Always trace a FLOW (trade/transport/waste) to a specific environmental RISK and to WHO BEARS the cost — spatial unevenness is the marks.
- Distinguish food miles / embodied carbon (transport + production) from the simple carbon footprint — examiners reward precise terms.
- On 'are impacts lessening?', separate RELATIVE gains (less per unit) from ABSOLUTE rise (more total) — the rebound effect is the key idea.
- Name real management examples: a climate/shipping/ozone agreement, a circular-economy scheme, a corporate net-zero pledge — and note their limits.
- Paper 3 is synoptic: link the risks to Unit 4 (TNCs/trade) and Unit 5 (who absorbs the cost), and to Topic 6.3 (resilience/governance).
- On the [16], finish with an explicit judgement on the exact wording ('successfully' / 'outweigh') — don't just describe both sides.