What this lesson teaches
I can explain how climate action supports, or sometimes limits, sustainable development.
Syllabus K329, Topic 3.3, Key Question 1. How does climate action help achieve sustainable development?
Make a guess
The Bhola cyclone killed around 300,000 people in Bangladesh in 1970. Cyclone Sidr, another powerful storm, struck in 2007. About how many people did Sidr kill?
- Even more, because more people now lived on the coast.
- About 300,000 again, as the storm was as strong.
- About 3,400, after shelters and warnings.
Show the answer
About 3,400, after shelters and warnings.
After 1970 Bangladesh built cyclone shelters and warning systems, and volunteers guided people to the shelters. Adaptation cut deaths sharply even though Sidr was powerful.
A named place with a date or figure, linked to your point, turns a general answer into a developed one.
This lesson collects the 11 named examples from the lessons in this chapter, so you can revise them in one place. Each one is also a recall card below, so you can save the whole set and review it before an exam.
Hazard, exposure and vulnerability: Cyclones in Bangladesh.
Cutting energy emissions: Singapore's carbon tax; Tengeh Reservoir floating solar farm.
Climate policy and cooperation: Paris Agreement, 2015; Kyoto Protocol, 1997.
Carbon stores and sinks: Amazon rainforest; OneMillionTrees, Singapore.
Flood, water and food adaptation: Marina Barrage, Singapore; Delta Works, Netherlands.
Warnings, policy and resilience: Singapore Green Plan 2030; Bangladesh's cyclone warnings.
To use a case, name the place or organisation, give its date or a figure, then say what it shows about the question. One developed case earns more than a list of names.
- Cyclones in Bangladesh
- The Bhola cyclone of 1970 killed around 300,000 people. After Bangladesh built cyclone shelters and warning systems, Cyclone Sidr, a powerful storm in 2007, killed about 3,400.
- Singapore's carbon tax
- Singapore introduced a carbon tax in 2019 at S$5 per tonne of emissions and raised it to S$25 in 2024, to encourage firms to cut emissions.
- Tengeh Reservoir floating solar farm
- Opened in 2021, this large floating solar farm in Singapore generates clean electricity without using scarce land.
- Paris Agreement, 2015
- Almost every country agreed to limit warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to try to keep it to 1.5 degrees. Each country sets its own targets.
- Kyoto Protocol, 1997
- This earlier treaty set emission targets only for richer countries, and the United States never ratified it.
- Amazon rainforest
- Clearing the Amazon for farming releases stored carbon and weakens one of the world's largest carbon sinks.
- OneMillionTrees, Singapore
- Singapore aims to plant a million more trees between 2020 and 2030 to cool the city and store carbon.
- Marina Barrage, Singapore
- Opened in 2008, the barrage keeps out high tides, helps prevent floods in low-lying areas and creates a freshwater reservoir.
- Delta Works, Netherlands
- After a flood in 1953 killed over 1,800 people, the Netherlands built a huge system of dams and storm-surge barriers.
- Singapore Green Plan 2030
- Launched in 2021, this national plan sets targets for greener buildings, cleaner energy, more green spaces and less waste.
- Bangladesh's cyclone warnings
- Volunteers spread warnings and guide people to shelters, showing how warnings, community action and policy work together.
Step by step
Name it
The place, event or organisation.
Prove it
A date, number or specific fact.
Link it
Say what it shows about the question.
Worked example: From a name to a developed point
Weak: "There are real examples, such as Cyclones in Bangladesh." Strong: "The Bhola cyclone of 1970 killed around 300,000 people. After Bangladesh built cyclone shelters and warning systems, Cyclone Sidr, a powerful storm in 2007, killed about 3,400." The strong version gives the place and the evidence, so it can earn a development mark.
Watch out for this
Naming a famous example is enough to earn the mark.
Examiners credit a developed case: a place, a date or figure, and a clear link to the question.
Check your understanding
Which is the strongest way to use a named example in an answer?
- List several example names, with no details.
- Give the place, a date or figure, and its link.
- Describe the example in general terms, without a place or figure.
Show the answer
Give the place, a date or figure, and its link.
Yes. A located, evidenced and linked case is what earns development marks.