2024 NJC Prelims H1 Econs (Q)

This document consists of 9 printed pages and 3 blank pages. NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Economics Department © NJC 2024 8843/01/24 [Turn over ECONOMICS 8843/01 Paper 1 3 hours No Additional Materials are required. READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST An answer booklet will be provided with this question paper. You should follow the instructions on the front cover of the answer booklet. If you need additional answer paper ask the invigilator for a continuation booklet. Answer all questions. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE SH2 Preliminary Examination for General Certificate of Education Advanced Level Higher 1

2 © NJC 2024 8843/01/24 Answer all questions. Question 1: Feeding a net-zero world Extract 1: Relationship between food systems and climate change Food systems are generally defined as all the activities related to producing, transporting, consuming food, and their effects. They account for around a third of all global greenhouse gas emissions and the emissions are not evenly distributed within the food systems. Agriculture land-uses make up about 65% of food-related emissions, with the remainder driven by both downstream (e.g. transport, waste) and upstream (fuel production) activities. Economic growth in developing countries and the accompanying large increase in consumption for animal-based proteins are expected to sizeably increase emissions from food systems in the coming years. Without urgent action, food system emissions are expected to grow by about 30 – 40% by 2050. This means that even if all other fossil -fuel emissions stopped now, emissions from food systems alone would prevent the world from achieving climate change target. But, affordable and availability of food is essential for food security. Maintaining this and ensuring its resilience in the face of climate change and increasing international tensions is imperative. Recent events have underscored the importance of this issue, with high cost of food contributing to the cost- of-living crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine , and the increasing number and severity of extreme weather events. Agriculture is by its nature affected by climatic conditions, particularly rain - fed agriculture. These impacts are being increasingly felt today. Recently in 2022, Europ e experienced its driest summer on record, leading to a drop in agricultural yields of up to 16% compared to previous years. Beyond agriculture, climate impacts are also being experienced in other parts of the food system s. Climate shocks affect not only agriculture farming, but also transportation of farmed goods, for example if extreme events such as floods and landslides damage key transport infrastructure. Food systems will need to adapt to climate change which poses challenges for how food is produced and transported. Source: adapted from Feeding a net-zero world, OECD, 8 September 2023 Extract 2: How can the UK reduce meat consumption and cut emissions? Globally, 83% of farmland is taken up by livestock, and many are arguing for an overhaul of meat consumption to free up more land for nature. In UK, there appears to be a downward trend in meat -eating but figures are still high. A report from last year found Britons have reduced meat consumption by 17% in the past decade. The increasing production of plant-based alternatives and their availability from being niche to widely available in most large supermarkets and restaurants has driven this decline. But strong public support has to be garnered given consumer sensitivities around food choices and cultural habits. Without strong public support, the switch to plant-based alternatives would be limited.

3 © NJC 2024 8843/01/24 [Turn over No doubt, some groups believe that the market will internalise the environmental costs if better information is provided, w e can’t just simply provide people with any information on the impacts of meat-eating. Information regarding environment impact may help p eople understand and oppose what meat consumption does to the environment but it doesn’t seem to impact what and how much they actually eat. Generally, self-interested individuals will not think about the climate crisis when browsing supermarket shelves. Information must be targeted at how meat -eating would impact the individuals themselves (e.g. health costs arising from obesity) to change their behaviours. A meat tax, or “sin taxes” would perhaps work by incentivising food manufacturers to put less meat in their food products (e.g. a sausage might have 60% meat instead of 70%). Y et most governments provide subsidies for livestock farming instead with some groups saying a meat tax would damage the domestic livestock farming sector , risking the livelihood of the farmers. So, most governments have no appetite for a meat tax. Source: adapted from How can the UK reduce meat consumption and cut emissions?, The Guardian, 16 August 2022 Extract 3: Making farming into restorer, not a destroyer of ecosystems UK’s farmers will receive government payments for environmental work and sustainable ways of food production. The Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) aims to boost food production sustainably and improve the environment while boosting UK farmers’ income as a result of doing the right thing for the environment. The ELMS will comprise three payment schemes: • The Sustainable Farming Incentive focuses on soil health and reducing the use of inputs such as chemical fertilisers and insecticides. It also includes payments for looking after hedgerows, grasslands and soils. • The Landscape Recovery Scheme will pay landowners for ambitious large -scale rewilding projects. These will lead to vast tracts of land being managed to conserve species, provide habitats for wildlife and restore health to rivers and streams. • The Countryside Stewardship Plus scheme will reward farmers for action to support climate change adaptation and help nature. It will reward farmers for taking coordinated action s, including natural flood management, wetland restoration and enhancing forest. However, low-cost imports made to lesser environment standards continue to drive down the prices of domestically grown, sustainably produced food in the UK. The UK is also already a large net importer of food and the ELMS’ ambition to maximise the value to society of the landscape may in reality mean that that increases further. The big danger is that we end up with an even more divided two-tier food system, where cheaper food from abroad, with huge environmental costs, replaces food that could be grown in nature-friendly ways in the UK. Source: adapted from Farm subsidy plan ‘risks increasing the UK’s reliance on food imports’, The Guardian, 09 January 2022

4 © NJC 2024 8843/01/24 Extract 4: Cleaner and healthier food systems Action to address issues in the food systems requires a focus on both supply and demand. On the supply side, current subsidies are often not sufficiently aligned with climate and healthier living objectives, and present a barrier to achieving these goals. The UK government spends at least £1.5b a year subsidising livestock farming, ten times the UK's annual budget for planting trees. Meanwhile, despite a global explosion in demand for planet -friendly alternative proteins, the UK has only committed £90m in research and development to this sector. Two particular avenues stand out to reorient subsidies towards better practices. One is to prioritise reforming support to the most emissions-intensive and carbohydrates-heavy products. For example, support give