Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696): Topic 12 – Environmental management – Study Guide

This guide covers topic 12, Environmental management, sections 12.1 to 12.4, of the Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026. It is one of the four Advanced Human Geography Options. The document places it in Paper 4 (1 hour 30 minutes, 60 marks, 25% of the A Level), where you answer questions on two optional topics. For each topic there is one structured question (10 marks) and you choose one of two essay questions (20 marks).

Use it with the Cambridge A Level Geography hub and checklist. Condensed versions are in the revision notes, and you can test yourself with the practice questions.

Coverage table

Syllabus reference	What you must know or be able to do (from the syllabus)	Where assessed
12.1	Renewable and non-renewable energy resources	Paper 4
12.1	National-scale factors affecting energy demand, supply and the balance between sources (nine factors listed below)	Paper 4
12.1	Trends in the consumption of fossil fuels, nuclear power and renewables (HEP, wind, biofuels) in LICs, MICs and HICs	Paper 4
12.1	Environmental impacts of energy production, transport and usage at local and global scales	Paper 4
12.2	Case study: one country’s overall electrical energy strategy, evaluated	Paper 4
12.2	Case study: one named located scheme to produce electricity, evaluated	Paper 4
12.3	Pollution (land, air and water): nature, causes, solutions	Paper 4
12.3	Demand for and supply of water and issues of water quality	Paper 4
12.3	Factors in the degradation of rural and urban environments	Paper 4
12.3	Constraints on improving the quality of degraded environments	Paper 4
12.3	Protection of environments at risk at the local or regional scale: needs, measures and outcomes	Paper 4
12.4	Case study: one degraded environment – causes, problems, issues, evaluation of solutions	Paper 4

AO4 Evaluation is about 40% of Paper 4, so every case study below ends with a judgement.

12.1 Renewable and non-renewable energy

Key terms

• Non-renewable (stock) resource: formed over geological time and used faster than it forms, so it will run out – coal, oil, natural gas and uranium for nuclear power.
• Renewable (flow) resource: replenished naturally on a human time scale – running water (HEP), wind, solar, tidal, geothermal and biofuels.
• Energy mix: the balance of sources a country uses.
• Energy security: reliable access to enough affordable energy.
• Sustainability: meeting present needs without reducing the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

Biofuels and fuelwood are renewable only if replanted as fast as they are used. Nuclear power is non-renewable but low-carbon.

12.1 Factors affecting demand, supply and the energy mix

• Level of development and income: HICs use far more energy per person. In many LICs, rural households depend on fuelwood and charcoal because grids do not reach them or cost too much.
• Resource endowment: countries use what they have. Coal-rich countries have built coal-based systems; mountainous, wet countries such as Norway generate most of their electricity from HEP.
• Climate: cold winters raise heating demand and hot climates raise cooling demand. Climate also sets potential for solar, wind and HEP.
• Technology: affects demand (efficient appliances) and supply (fracking, cheaper solar panels).
• Pollution: air quality problems and climate commitments push countries away from coal.
• Energy policy: subsidies, taxes and targets set by governments shape the mix.
• Energy security: reliance on imports from one supplier is a risk, so countries diversify.
• Sustainability: can the mix be kept up without harming future supply or the environment?

Worked paragraph (structured question style). Knowledge: energy security means a reliable supply of affordable energy. Application: a country that imports most of its gas through one pipeline is exposed if that supplier cuts deliveries. Analysis: it may build domestic renewables or import terminals for gas from other suppliers, so security changes the balance of sources. Evaluation: a poorer country may not afford this quickly, so level of development limits how far security drives change.

12.1 Trends in consumption in LICs, MICs and HICs

• Fossil fuels: still the largest share of world energy use. Coal use has fallen in many HICs. The UK’s last coal-fired power station, Ratcliffe-on-Soar, closed on 30 September 2024. In many MICs, coal and oil use has grown with industrialisation; China is the world’s largest coal consumer.
• Nuclear power: concentrated in HICs and some MICs. Some countries are leaving it – Germany shut its last three reactors on 15 April 2023 – while others, including China, are building new ones. France gets most of its electricity from nuclear power.
• HEP: large schemes such as Three Gorges (China) and Itaipu (Brazil and Paraguay) are in MICs; in many LICs potential is untapped because of cost.
• Wind: has grown fastest in HICs and China, helped by falling costs.
• Biofuels: Brazil has used sugar-cane ethanol as a vehicle fuel for decades. In LICs, traditional biomass (fuelwood, charcoal, dung) remains a major household fuel.

When you describe a trend, give direction, rate and an example.

12.1 Environmental impacts at local and global scales

Stage	Local impacts	Global impacts
Production	Open-cast mining scars land; reservoirs flood valleys; turbines affect birds	CO2 and methane add to the enhanced greenhouse effect
Transport	Pipelines cross habitats; tanker spills on coasts	Methane leaks from gas networks; shipping emissions
Usage	Urban air pollution (particulates, NO2) from vehicles and power stations; acid rain downwind	Climate change from burning fossil fuels

The enhanced greenhouse effect is in the Core Physical Geography guide.

12.2 Case study: one country’s electrical energy strategy – Germany

Strategy. Germany’s Energiewende (energy transition) aims to replace nuclear and fossil electricity with renewables. The Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) of 2000 guaranteed fixed feed-in payments for 20 years; from 2017 auctions replaced these for most larger installations.

Changes in supply and location. Germany decided to phase out nuclear power in 2000. After the Fukushima accident in 2011 it dropped nuclear as a “bridging technology”, and the last reactors (Emsland, Isar II and Neckarwestheim II) closed on 15 April 2023. Coal is to end by 2038 at the latest. Production has moved from large central power stations to wind farms in the north and offshore, and to small solar installations, especially in the south. Renewables supplied over half of electricity in 2023 and 54% of demand in 2024.

Issues.

• Transmission: wind power is in the north but much demand is in the south. The SuedLink line (about 700 km) was planned for 2022; after local protests it became an underground cable, now scheduled for 2028.
• Prices: in 2013 Germany had among the highest household electricity prices in Europe, partly because of the renewable surcharge.
• Security: after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Germany reopened coal plants to save gas.
• Emissions: closing low-carbon nuclear before coal kept coal burning longer.

Evaluation. Renewables now provide most electricity, and in 2023 greenhouse gas emissions were the lowest since the 1950s. But part of that fall came from weaker industrial output. The grid has lagged behind generation and costs have been high. Overall it is a qualified success: a large change in the mix, achieved more slowly and expensively than planned.

12.2 Case study: a named located scheme – Three Gorges Dam, China

Location and scale. On the Yangtze River at Sandouping, Hubei province. Construction began in December 1994; the power plant was fully running in 2012. Installed capacity is 22,500 MW (32 turbines of 700 MW and 2 of 50 MW). It generated nearly 112 TWh in 2020, a world record for one plant. The reservoir stretches up to 600 km upstream.

Demand and supply. China’s electricity demand grew fast with industrialisation. Long high-voltage lines carry the power to central, eastern and southern China. The dam also provides flood control and navigation; a ship lift was completed in 2015 and came into use in 2016.

Issues.

• Between about 1.13 and 1.4 million people were displaced.
• Construction cost ¥203 billion.
• Sediment is trapped in the reservoir instead of reaching the lower river and delta.
• The reservoir slopes are prone to landslides; 97 significant landslides were recorded in the first four months of 2010.
• River ecosystems and fish migration have been altered.

Evaluation. As a producer of low-carbon electricity it is a clear success. Even so, its output is only a small fraction of China’s total electricity, so coal remained dominant. The social and environmental costs fell mainly on local people and the river ecosystem, while the benefits went largely to distant cities. Success therefore depends on whose viewpoint you take (AO4.3).

Worked paragraph (essay style). Knowledge: the Three Gorges Dam has 22,500 MW of capacity. Application: it supplies cities far downstream through long-distance transmission. Analysis: production is located far from demand, so the grid becomes part of the scheme. Evaluation: it succeeds nationally on output, but less so locally, because people nearest the dam bear the cost of displacement and landslides.

12.3 Pollution: nature, causes and solutions

• Air: particulates, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide from vehicles, industry and power stations. Solutions: emission standards, scrubbers, cleaner fuels, low-emission zones.
• Water: sewage, industrial effluent, farm nitrates and phosphates (causing eutrophication), and thermal pollution. Solutions: wastewater treatment, buffer strips, discharge permits.
• Land: solid waste, mining spoil, heavy metals and pesticides. Solutions: sanitary landfill, recycling, cleaning up contaminated land.

Distinguish point-source pollution (one outlet, such as a factory pipe – easier to regulate) from diffuse pollution (many small sources, such as farm runoff – harder to control).

Example: London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone. It started in central London on 8 April 2019 and was extended in October 2021 and again in August 2023 to all London boroughs. Older, more polluting vehicles pay £12.50 a day. A Transport for London report estimated nitrogen dioxide was 27% lower across the city than it would have been without the zone. Critics argue the charge falls hardest on lower-income drivers.

12.3 Water demand, supply and quality

Demand rises with population, urbanisation, irrigation, industry and incomes. Supply depends on rainfall, storage, groundwater and infrastructure. Physical scarcity means not enough water exists. Economic scarcity means water exists but people cannot afford the infrastructure to reach it. Quality issues include sewage contamination, salinisation and nitrate pollution.

Example: Cape Town, South Africa. After drought from 2015, the city’s six main dams fell to 14-29% of capacity in 2017-18. “Day Zero” was the point at which dam levels would fall below 13.5%. From 1 February 2018 residents were limited to 50 litres per person per day. Daily use more than halved to about 500 million litres by March 2018. Day Zero was postponed indefinitely in June 2018 after winter rains. Demand management worked, but rainfall also mattered.

12.3 Degradation of rural and urban environments

Rural factors. Overpopulation can push farmers onto steep or dry land and shorten fallow periods. Poor agricultural practices include overgrazing, overcultivation, ploughing down slopes and irrigation without drainage, which causes salinisation. Deforestation exposes soil to erosion and reduces biodiversity.

Urban factors. Rapid urbanisation can outpace housing, sanitation and transport. Industrial development brings emissions and contaminated land. Inadequate waste management leads to open dumping and burning, polluted leachate, and drains blocked by rubbish, which worsens flooding. Link this to settlement management in the Core Human Geography guide.

12.3 Constraints on improvement

• Cost: clean-up and new infrastructure are expensive, especially for LICs.
• Governance: weak enforcement, corruption or unclear land ownership.
• Conflicting interests: jobs and export income versus environmental quality.
• Scale: rivers, air and seas cross borders, so one country cannot act alone.
• Poverty: people meeting daily needs may have to clear land or burn waste.
• Time: soils, ecosystems and water bodies can take decades to recover.

12.3 Protecting environments at risk: the Great Barrier Reef

Needs. The reef holds about 10% of the world’s coral reef area and supports tourism and fishing. It was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1981.

Measures. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act of 1975 created the marine park, managed by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. From 1 July 2004, rezoning raised the proportion of no-take zones from 4.6% to 33.3% of the park. Permits, monitoring and education support the zoning.

Outcomes. Zoning manages local pressures such as fishing. But the main threats – climate change (mass bleaching in 2016 and 2017), runoff from the land and coastal development – come largely from outside the park. Regional protection works on regional causes but cannot solve global ones.

12.4 Case study: a degraded environment – the Aral Sea

Causes. The Aral Sea, on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, was fed by the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. In the early 1960s the Soviet government diverted both rivers to irrigate desert land for cotton.

Problems.

• Between 1960 and 1998 the sea’s area shrank by 60% and its volume by 80%, and it split into a North and South sea in 1987.
• Salinity rose from about 10 g/L to about 30 g/L by 1990, killing much of the fish population.
• The port of Muynak, whose fishing industry once employed about 30,000 people, now lies 30-90 km from the shore.
• Salt and dust blow from the exposed bed, now called the Aralkum Desert, and the region has high rates of ill health.

Attempts to improve. With World Bank loans, Kazakhstan built the 13 km Dike Kokaral, completed in 2005, to hold Syr Darya water in the North Aral Sea. By 2008 the water level had risen 12 m to 42 m. Salinity fell, almost 24 freshwater species returned, and fish catches were again exported.

Issues and evaluation. The North Aral is a real, measurable success. The far larger South Aral depends on the Amu Darya, which is still heavily used for irrigation, and its eastern basin dried out completely in 2014. Restoring it would need the countries along the Amu Darya to cut irrigation that supports jobs and exports. So the solutions succeeded where the fix was local and affordable, but failed where the cause is transboundary and economic.

Worked paragraph (essay style). Knowledge: Dike Kokaral raised the North Aral by 12 m by 2008. Application: this revived fishing for communities near the north shore. Analysis: it worked because the dike was a single, affordable project inside one country. Evaluation: the success is partial, because the South Aral, shared between users and dependent on cotton irrigation, continued to shrink.

Common errors

• Treating biofuels as automatically sustainable, ignoring replanting and competition with food crops.
• Describing the energy-strategy case study without saying how the location of power production changed – the syllabus asks for this.
• Calling a scheme “good” or “bad” without saying for whom, at what scale and over what time.
• Confusing point-source with diffuse pollution in data questions about rivers.
• Writing about global climate change when a question asks about protection at the “local or regional scale”.

Where next

See how options are chosen on Paper 4 in the exam preparation guide. Your teacher will confirm which options your school teaches.

Official syllabus

This guide follows the Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, topic 12, Environmental management (12.1-12.4).