OxfordAQA IGCSE Pakistan Studies: Creating a Sustainable Future — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: Creating a Sustainable Future study guide | Creating a Sustainable Future revision notes

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What do these questions practise? The three key developments of optional topic 3.2.4 in OxfordAQA International GCSE Pakistan Studies 9236: environmental issues, managing climate change, and supporting development and equality. Answers are written as mark-scheme points so you can check where marks are earned.

Short answer

1. State two causes of air pollution in Pakistan’s cities. [2]

2. Define desertification. [1]

3. Name one tree-planting programme in Pakistan. [1]

4. State the difference between climate change mitigation and adaptation. [2]

5. Name the international agreement that aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C. [1]

6. Name one province or region of Pakistan with low levels of development. [1]

Explain

7. Explain two impacts of water pollution on people in Pakistan. [4]

8. Explain why over-grazing can lead to desertification. [3]

9. Explain why Pakistan is vulnerable to climate change even though it produces a small share of global emissions. [4]

10. Explain how early warning systems can reduce the impacts of floods. [3]

11. Explain two strategies used to improve girls’ education in Pakistan. [4]

12. Describe one local and one national strategy used to protect biodiversity in Pakistan. [4]

13. Explain why some regions of Pakistan are less developed than others. [4]

Evaluate

14. “Adaptation is more important than mitigation for Pakistan’s response to climate change.” Evaluate this view. [9]

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Answers

1. Any two: vehicle exhaust [1]; brick kilns [1]; factory emissions [1]; burning crop stubble [1]; burning rubbish [1].

2. The spread of desert-like conditions into dry areas, caused by climate and human misuse of land [1].

3. Billion Tree Tsunami or Ten Billion Tree Tsunami [1].

4. Mitigation reduces the causes of climate change, for example by cutting greenhouse gas emissions [1]; adaptation reduces the harm it causes, for example by building flood defences [1].

5. The Paris Agreement [1].

6. Balochistan, or the former tribal districts now in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [1].

7. Any two developed: drinking contaminated water spreads diseases such as diarrhoea and typhoid [1], which are especially dangerous for young children [1]; polluted rivers and coastal water harm fish [1], reducing catches and fishermen’s incomes [1]; farmers irrigating with polluted water may contaminate crops [1], affecting health and sales [1].

8. Too many animals eat grass and shrubs faster than they can regrow [1]. The bare soil is exposed to wind and occasional heavy rain, which remove the fertile topsoil [1]. Without vegetation and topsoil the land cannot hold moisture and becomes desert-like [1].

9. Its rivers depend on glaciers and snowmelt in the Karakoram and Himalaya, which are melting [1]. Agriculture relies on monsoon rain, which is becoming more extreme [1]. Summers are already very hot, so heatwaves are dangerous [1]. Many poor people live on floodplains or in the low-lying Indus delta and have few resources to recover from disasters [1].

10. Forecasts and warnings give people time to move to safety with their animals and belongings [1]. Authorities can prepare shelters, food and rescue teams in advance [1]. Fewer people die and less property is lost [1].

11. Any two developed: stipends or cash payments to families for girls who attend school [1], offsetting the cost and loss of help at home [1]; building schools close to villages [1], so girls do not have to travel long distances [1]; recruiting female teachers [1], which reassures parents [1]; non-formal or online classes [1] for girls who have missed school [1].

12. Local: community trophy-hunting schemes in the north, where income from licensed hunting of markhor is shared with villages that protect the animals and their habitat [1–2]. National: national parks and protected areas such as Khunjerab or Margalla Hills, where hunting, logging and building are restricted [1–2].

13. Physical factors: mountains, deserts and lack of water in Balochistan and the north make farming and building infrastructure difficult [1]. Economic factors: industry and services are concentrated in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, so jobs and investment are there [1]. Social factors: fewer schools and hospitals in remote areas mean lower literacy and health [1]. Political factors: insecurity and historical neglect, for example in the former tribal areas, discouraged investment [1].

14. Level-marked. For adaptation: Pakistan’s emissions are a very small share of the global total, so cutting them alone will not stop climate change [1–2]; impacts such as the 2022 floods and heatwaves are already happening and kill people now [1–2]; early warnings, flood defences and heatwave plans save lives quickly [1]. For mitigation: renewable energy reduces costly fuel imports and air pollution as well as emissions [1–2]; reforestation also reduces floods and erosion [1]; Pakistan’s emissions will rise as its population and economy grow [1]. Top-level answers reach a supported judgement, for example that adaptation is the more urgent priority but mitigation brings extra economic and health benefits, so both are needed. Maximum 9.

Frequently asked questions

Which named examples work best? The 2022 floods, the Billion Tree Tsunami, Lahore’s smog, the National Adaptation Plan and the Benazir Income Support Programme cover most of the topic.

Should I learn the 2022 flood figures? Know that the floods killed more than 1,700 people and that damage and losses were estimated at about US$30 billion; use any figures given in the paper.

Based on the OxfordAQA International GCSE Pakistan Studies (9236) specification, Version 1.9, topic 3.2.4.