The big idea: Development is shaped not only by money and governance, but by people and the planet. Social factors (gender, migration, culture, values) and environmental factors (geography, climate, resources) can either power development or hold it back.
How a society treats women, whether people can move for work, and its values all shape development. So does geography — a country's land, climate and resources — and, increasingly, climate change, which threatens the gains development has made.
- Gender relations — empowering women (education, work, rights) is one of the strongest drivers of development.
- Migration — people moving for work send home remittances and skills, but also 'brain drain'.
- Values & culture — attitudes to education, work, trust and change shape how development happens.
- Geography & climate — land, resources and, above all, climate change shape what is possible.
Gender is a development multiplier: Educating and empowering women is one of the most powerful drivers of development: it raises household income and health, lowers child mortality, and slows population growth. Denying women rights and schooling wastes half a society's talent — a huge brake on development.
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The most urgent environmental factor is climate change — because it directly threatens the food, water, health and homes that development is meant to secure.
Case study — climate change and development: Climate change — floods, droughts, storms and rising seas — hits poorer countries hardest, even though they did least to cause it.
How it reverses development gains
- Destroys crops and infrastructure
- Forces people to move
- Spreads disease
- Drains resources into disaster recovery
Why it matters: A country can build schools and clinics for years, then see them washed away in a single flood. So the environment is not a side issue: it can undo development.
This is why environmental factors are now central to the theme. Development that ignores the environment is unsustainable, and a changing climate can wipe out progress faster than money can build it.
The key point: Social factors (above all gender) and environmental factors (above all climate change) shape development as much as money and governance. Empowering women multiplies development; climate change can reverse it — so both are central, not side issues.
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Do social and environmental factors help or hold back development — and are environmental threats the greatest? Recurring debates. Weigh them.
Do social factors inhibit development?
Social factors like gender inequality, exclusion of groups, or attitudes hostile to education can genuinely inhibit development — but the same factors reversed (empowering women, valuing education) can powerfully drive it, so social factors cut both ways.
Are environmental factors the greatest threat?
Climate change can reverse decades of development gains and hits the poorest hardest, so many argue it is now the greatest threat — though corruption, conflict and unfair global rules also threaten development, so it works alongside them.
Two perspectives — weigh them: One view: social and environmental factors are decisive — gender empowerment drives development and climate change threatens it most. Another view: they interact with economics and governance and rarely act alone. Strong essays evaluate both, often concluding these factors are powerful multipliers or threats that must be tackled alongside economic and political ones.
How social & environmental factors come up in Paper 2: A Paper 2 essay might ask whether social factors inhibit development, or whether environmental factors are the greatest threat. Weigh how each helps AND harms, use a real case (gender; climate change), then judge.
The 15-mark markband (what moves you up)
Bands 1–6
Mostly descriptive; perspectives not identified.
avoid
Bands 7–9
Clear knowledge, but perspectives identified, not explored.
7–9
Bands 10–12
Well-supported argument; perspectives explored.
10–12
Bands 13–15
Balanced, compelling; perspectives explored AND evaluated.
13–15
Examine the view that environmental factors are the greatest threat to development.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Common mistakes: 1. Treating social/environmental factors as one-sided. Each helps AND harms.
2. Missing gender as a development multiplier. It's a key point.
3. No real case. Use climate change / women's empowerment.
4. Listing social and environmental factors. Show how one amplifies the other.
5. No judgement. Conclude on how great the threat or driver is.