2025 JC1 ASRJC P1A5 P1A6 Essay Outlines

1 P1A5 questions for reference 1. 'Too little attention is paid to environmental conservation today.' Do you agree? 2. ‘Singapore is an island paradise meant only for the elites.’ Do you agree? 3. To what extent is raising the retirement age a necessary evil in today’s society? 4. Should governments be blamed for the ineffectiveness of efforts to conserve the environment? 5. Is singlehood desirable in your society? Question 1 ‘Too little attention is paid to environmental conservation today. ’ Do you agree? (AJC JC1 MYCT 2014) Question Analysis Issue: The issue being discussed is the extent to which environmental conservation is being prioritised in today’s world. Context: Today Global Conceptual Understanding: • Demonstrates an ability to make observations about global /regional/local trends in environmental conservation efforts and critically evaluate the sincerity and effectiveness of these efforts in adequately addressing current environmental challenges. • Demonstrates an ability to analyse the complex relationship between economic, political, and societal priorities and the level of attention paid to environmental conservation. • Demonstrates an ability to consider (and contrast if needed) the roles and responsibilities of governments, corporations, and individuals in promoting or neglecting environmental conservation. • Demonstrates an ability to apply the concept of sustainability across different national and cultural contexts, considering how attention to conservation may vary over time and place. Key words: • Too little: Implies insufficiency; requires assessment of what is currently being done and whether that is adequate • Attention: Focus, effort, resources, and action directed towards something e.g. public or media awareness, policy action, corporate behaviour, societal engagement, and resource allocation etc. • Paid to: Suggests both awareness and action • Environmental conservation: The responsible management, protection, and preservation of natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and resources • Today: Focus on the current era – post-industrialisation, post-COVID, climate emergency era, volatile global order Significant aspects/areas to be discussed (5W1H, Multiple Perspectives, Significant Trends, SPECTRAM): • 5W1H: Who are the significant players involved in attention paid to environmental conservation today? What are the various forms of attention? What are impacts of too little/adequate attention? What are the pressing environmental needs today that suggests whether the attention is adequate? Why has too little/adequate attention been paid to environmental conservation? • TIRE+C: Critically evaluating the attention paid to environmental conservation using considerations such as timeframe, extent of impacts, root cause analysis • SPECTRAM: Analyse the complex relationship between economic, political, and societal priorities and the level of attention paid to environmental conservation; analyse the various economic, political and societal impacts from the lack of attention paid to environmental conservation

2 Possible Stands • Agree to large extent that too little attention is paid to environmental conservation today. • Disagree to a large extent that too little attention is paid to environmental conservation today. Reasons for why too little attention is paid to environmental conservation today. Reasons for why sufficient attention is paid to environmental conservation today. Every year there have been talks but attention is cursory and usually overshadowed by other concerns like economic growth and defence. • Climate Policy Initiative in 2013 reported that global spending to combat climate change fell in recent years and remains far below the level needed to prevent its most dangerous effects. A fund needs to be set up to tackle environmental problems. The financing needed is $1 trillion a year but governments have only agreed to raise 100 billion by 2020. In contrast global spending on military is about 1.7 trillion annually. • In 2023, India increased its defence budget by 13%, reaching approximately US$73 billion, ranking third globally after the US and China. In contrast, India’s budget for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change was just US$372 million, a fraction of the defence allocation. This disparity reflects national priorities where security and economic expansion outweigh environmental spending— even as India faces severe air pollution, water scarcity, and climate vulnerabilities. Every year the international community turns its focus to environmental conservation as is evidenced from the many international summits, talks focusing on the environment. Examples include • UN Climate Change Conferences: The 2023 COP28 summit in Dubai marked a historic moment where nearly 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels, a first in UN climate talks. The agreement emphasizes deep and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming below 1.5°C, tripling renewable energy capacity, and substantial reductions in other greenhouse gases like methane by 2030. • UN Bodies Committed to Environmental Sustainability: Numerous UN agencies continue to play pivotal roles in promoting environmental conservation and sustainable development. These include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), among others. Their efforts encompass a wide range of activities, from policy development to on-the-ground projects aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). • International Observances and Initiatives: The UN has designated various observances to raise awareness and prompt action on environmental issues. For instance, the International Day for Biological Diversity on 22 May 2024 focused on the theme "Be part of the Plan, " encouraging global participation in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Additionally, the UN declared 2024–2033 as the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development, aiming to tackle global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss through inclusive, interdisciplinary scientific approaches.

3 • World Environment Day: Celebrated annually on 5 June, World Environment Day continues to be a major platform for environmental outreach. In 2025, the focus will be on ending global plastic pollution, with South Korea hosting the global celebrations. This theme underscores the urgent need to address the environmental impacts of plastic waste. Scant notice is given to the problems to the environmentally unfriendly production methods and consumption patterns if there are economic gains, for example in the way resources are exploited. • Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” , is the process of drilling and pumping chemicals, sand and water into rocks at high pressure to extract oil and gas. This causes environmental problems like releasing greenhouse gases and toxic chemicals which leach from the system to contaminate nearby groundwater, and yet is seen now as the answer to expanding world resources – energy companies, like Chesapeake Energy, have denied the damage fracking is causing and governments close an eye in the bid to secure energy. Britain’s government wants to deny the citizens the rights to grant permission to companies which want to frack directly underneath their property. • China has long valued economic growth above environmental protection and has taken economic growth as the predominate criteria for evaluating local officials’ performances. • Australia continues to mine rare earth metals for economic gains and Malaysia agrees to Lynas proce