IB DP Economics: Sustainable development – Revision Notes

These notes follow the IB Diploma Programme Economics guide (first assessment 2022, published February 2020), the course examined from the 2022 session onwards. They cover sub-topic 4.7, sustainable development, in Unit 4 The global economy. The meaning of sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals are SL and HL. The link between sustainability and poverty is HL only. All countries and figures are invented.

For full explanations, read the study guide. Then try the practice set. Track progress on the IB DP Economics hub and the printable checklist, and find gaps with the free diagnostics.

Core definitions

Term	Meaning
Sustainability	The present generation meets its needs while leaving later generations able to meet theirs; economic activity must limit resource depletion and degradation that would harm them
Sustainable development	Raising living standards in a way that can continue, so that present needs are met without running down what later generations will need
Renewable resource	A resource that regenerates; use is sustainable while the yearly amount taken does not exceed regeneration
Non-renewable resource	A resource with no useful regeneration; every unit used reduces what remains
Depletion	Using up a stock of a resource
Degradation	A fall in the quality of a resource or the environment, such as polluted water or exhausted soil
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)	17 global goals agreed by United Nations member states in 2015, with a 2030 target date

The guide sets 4.7 at the application and analysis level (AO2). Expect “explain”, “distinguish”, “analyse”, “apply”, “suggest”, “define” and “outline”. Judging progress towards the goals in two or more countries sits in 4.10.

Must-know distinctions

Pair	Key difference
Renewable and non-renewable	Renewable stocks refill, so a limit on use can be sustainable. Non-renewable stocks only fall, so the question is how long they last and what replaces them
Depletion and degradation	Depletion is the quantity used up. Degradation is the damage to quality
Present and future needs	Sustainable development gives weight to both. A policy that helps now but ruins later supply fails, and so does one that protects the future at the cost of present basic needs
Goals that support and goals that conflict	Education (4) supports poverty reduction (1). Growth from fossil fuels (8) can conflict with climate action (13)

The 17 goals at a glance

Main aim	Goals
Ending deprivation	1 No poverty; 2 Zero hunger; 3 Good health and well-being; 4 Quality education; 5 Gender equality; 6 Clean water and sanitation
Economic base	7 Affordable and clean energy; 8 Decent work and economic growth; 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure; 10 Reduced inequalities
Living within limits	11 Sustainable cities and communities; 12 Responsible consumption and production; 13 Climate action; 14 Life below water; 15 Life on land
Institutions and cooperation	16 Peace, justice and strong institutions; 17 Partnerships for the goals

The grouping is a memory aid, not an official one.

Method box: applying the goals to a case

1. Match the case to goals by number and title.
2. Link: say how the event moves the country towards or away from each goal.
3. Connect: say whether the goals support or conflict, and whether the effect is short run or lasting.
4. Use the facts in the case, such as jobs, hectares or tonnes. A generic answer earns less.

Reminder table: goal and economic idea

Goal	Economic idea to attach
1 and 10	Poverty and income inequality; redistribution
4 and 3	Human capital and merit goods
8	Economic growth, employment, productivity
9	Infrastructure and technology that raise capacity
12	Consumption and production that do not exhaust resources
13, 14, 15	Environmental costs that the market does not price
17	International cooperation on shared problems

Resource calculations

Method box: renewable resource

1. Regeneration = growth rate × current stock.
2. Compare the catch with regeneration. Catch ≤ regeneration is sustainable at this stock size.
3. Next year’s stock = stock + regeneration − catch.
4. If the catch stays above regeneration, the stock falls and so does regeneration.

Method box: non-renewable resource

1. Lifetime = reserves ÷ yearly extraction.
2. Recycling at share r cuts mining need to (1 − r) × demand, so lifetime = reserves ÷ [(1 − r) × demand].
3. If extraction grows, the lifetime is shorter than the constant-rate figure.

Worked reminder: a renewable aquifer

Selmoor is a fictional farming region. Its usable aquifer holds 90 million cubic metres. Natural recharge is 3 million cubic metres a year and farmers pump 4.5 million.

• Net draw = 4.5 − 3 = 1.5 million a year.
• Lifetime = 90 ÷ 1.5 = 60 years, ignoring any fall in recharge.
• To stop the decline, pumping must fall to 3 million, a cut of 1.5 ÷ 4.5 = one third.

A reminder on wording: say “at the current rate” and “ignoring changes in recharge”. The figure is a simple projection.

Worked reminder: applying the goals

A fictional country builds a coal-fired power plant that gives 2,000 people steady jobs and cheaper electricity to a poor district, but raises national emissions.

• Supports: goal 8 (jobs and growth), goal 7 (affordable energy) and probably goal 1.
• Works against: goal 13 (climate action).
• Connect: the goals conflict. A full answer adds that the energy gain may last for the life of the plant, while the climate cost falls on future generations as well, which is the sustainability test.

Why markets over-use resources

Resources that nobody owns, or whose damage is not paid for by the user, tend to be over-used because the private cost is lower than the full social cost. This is the main reason intervention is argued for. The detail is in externalities and common pool resources.

Sustainability and poverty (HL only)

HL only. Be ready to explain both directions of the link.

Direction	Mechanism
Poverty to environmental pressure	Short time horizons, direct dependence on local resources, few alternatives such as affordable energy or credit
Environmental damage to poverty	Lower yields and catches, flood and drought exposure, health costs from pollution

Together they can form a vicious circle. Policies that tackle both at once, such as subsidised clean cooking energy, can break it. The limit is cost and whether poor households can afford to keep using the cleaner option.

Constraints on sustainability

• Cost and income level
• Short political and household time horizons
• Global spillovers, so one country’s action benefits others who pay nothing
• Uncertainty in measuring limits and future needs
• Competing goals and priorities

Quick self-test

1. Define sustainability, using the idea of generations.
2. A renewable stock of 50,000 tonnes regenerates 10% a year and 6,000 tonnes are caught. Find regeneration and next year’s stock.
3. Reserves of 250 million tonnes are extracted at 5 million a year. How many years do they last?
4. Recycling meets 20% of demand for the metal in question 3. How long do the reserves now last?
5. State the number and title of the goal on climate.
6. Name two goals supported by a free school meals programme.
7. Give one reason why two goals may conflict.
8. Distinguish between depletion and degradation.
9. HL only. Why might a poor household overuse a local woodland?
10. HL only. Explain the vicious circle linking poverty and the environment.
11. The Selmoor aquifer holds 90 million cubic metres and is drawn down 1.5 million a year. How many years does it last?

Answers

1. Meeting present needs while leaving later generations able to meet theirs.
2. Regeneration = 10% × 50,000 = 5,000 tonnes. Next stock = 50,000 + 5,000 − 6,000 = 49,000 tonnes.
3. 250 ÷ 5 = 50 years.
4. Mining need = 80% × 5 = 4 million a year. 250 ÷ 4 = 62.5 years.
5. Goal 13, Climate action.
6. For example goal 2 (zero hunger) and goal 4 (quality education); goal 3 is also acceptable.
7. For example, faster growth from fossil fuel use (goal 8) raises emissions and works against goal 13.
8. Depletion is using up the quantity of a resource. Degradation is a fall in its quality or in the quality of the environment.
9. It needs fuel or income now, has few alternatives, and places a high value on the present over the future.
10. Poverty leads to overuse of local resources, overuse degrades them, and the lost income and health deepen poverty again.
11. 90 ÷ 1.5 = 60 years.

Where marks are usually lost

• Using a vague definition such as “growth that does not harm the environment” instead of the generational wording.
• Listing goals by name with no link to the case.
• Calling all use of a resource unsustainable, instead of comparing use with regeneration.
• Missing the compounding effect: a falling stock means falling regeneration.
• Forgetting working in resource calculations, or leaving out units such as tonnes or years.
• Showing the poverty link in only one direction (HL).
• Giving constraints with no explanation of why they limit action.
• Writing about progress in particular countries, which belongs to 4.10 and not here.

Official syllabus

Source: Economics guide, IB Diploma Programme, first assessment 2022 (International Baccalaureate Organization, February 2020). Sub-topic 4.7.