Key Idea: Topic 6.3 is the 'what do we do about it?' end of the HL core — how the world builds resilience to the geopolitical, economic and environmental risks of Topics 6.1 and 6.2. It works at two scales at once: Global — international governance and treaties, and global NGOs and civil society that hold states and TNCs to account. Local — the localisation movement (local sourcing, food and energy security, community action) that shortens supply chains and reduces dependence. Over it all sits the planetary-boundaries idea — the safe environmental limits humanity must stay inside. 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), and it pulls together the whole of Units 4–6.
🛡️ The strategies for resilience
Resilience comes from top-down action (global governance) and bottom-up action (localisation and civil society) working together. The exam skill is to weigh which scale matters more for a given risk, and to judge how effective each really is.
Local action is fast, democratic and cuts emissions, but it can't fix global problems alone (a town can't set a carbon price). Global governance can set shared rules, but is slow, weakly enforced and lets nations free-ride. The strongest answers argue resilience needs both, nested together — global rules that empower local action.
🌐 Where it connects (the synoptic web)
✍️ IB-style questions
✅ Quick self-check
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🎯 Highest-yield exam reminders
Exam Tips
- Always name the SCALE (local / national / global) of each resilience strategy — the marks reward matching scale to risk.
- Pair every strategy with the RISK it addresses (from 6.1/6.2): supply-chain shock → reshoring; climate → treaties; weak TNC accountability → NGOs.
- Know real examples: an international agreement, a named NGO/civil-society campaign, a localisation/community-energy scheme, the planetary-boundaries framework.
- On local vs global, avoid 'one is better' — argue they're INTERDEPENDENT: global rules that empower local action.
- Topic 6.3 is the synoptic capstone — deliberately reach back to Units 4 (power/flows) and 5 (development) and to 6.1/6.2 (the risks).
- On the [16], resolve the exact wording ('more effectively at the local scale') with a clear judgement — ideally 'it depends on the risk'.